Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 243.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 46,760 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,306.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC traded down $0.51 on Friday, reaching $44.80. The company had a trading volume of 43,472,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,078,777. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $33.37 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $343.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $45.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Bank of America Company 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.