Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Takes $697,000 Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 16,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during 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 grew its stake in 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 worth $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.35. The stock had a trading volume of 31,976,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,731,199. The company has a market cap of $334.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $33.07 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $40.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.52.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm 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 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.50.

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.