Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,752 shares during the quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% in the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after buying an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $798,000. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 33,983 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $44.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $338.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.50. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $34.03 and a 12-month high of $48.08. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.