Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires 884,647 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 7,006.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 897,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 884,647 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $49,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 60,397 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,322,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares in the last quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA boosted its stake in Bank of America by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 11,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Hurley Capital LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 71 West Capital Partners bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,018,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Autonomous Res cut their target price on Bank of America from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $61.50 to $57.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.06.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $55.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.06 and a 52 week high of $57.55. The firm's 50 day moving average is $52.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $396.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.19.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $30.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.72 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $6,719,335.56. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $72,803,774.97. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.

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