31,008 Shares in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Purchased by Blue Capital Inc.

Blue Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 31,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,363,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.25.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC traded down $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $40.86. 29,470,622 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,256,504. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $33.07 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $39.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.50. The company has a market cap of $310.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

About Bank of America

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.