Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 473,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,769 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $20,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi increased its stake in Bank of America by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Bank of America by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $561,513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733,810 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Bank of America by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $425,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Bank of America by 193.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $301,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Bank of America Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BAC traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.61. 37,639,976 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,853,873. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $34.15 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The firm's fifty day moving average is $45.11 and its 200-day moving average is $43.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $316.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BAC. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.