Perpetual Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 238.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 549,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 386,800 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Bank of America were worth $22,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Cowen started coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Argus reduced their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen started coverage on Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.56.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $47.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $357.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.34. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.07 and a twelve month high of $48.08.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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