Northern Trust Corp Acquires 9,980,859 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.89% of Bank of America worth $2,985,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in 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 worth $5,381,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in Bank of America by 71,357.5% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,632,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $379,411,000 after purchasing an additional 8,620,699 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BAC. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Cfra Research lifted their target price on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.25.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE BAC traded down $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.88. 40,927,498 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,224,774. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.56. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $33.07 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $303.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio 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.