Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Sabal Trust CO

Sabal Trust CO boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1,890.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 554,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 526,245 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO's holdings in Bank of America were worth $23,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,243,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BAC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Cfra Research upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.65.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $47.11. The stock had a trading volume of 56,663,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,975,018. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.35. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $354.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

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.