Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Acquires New Shares in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 40,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,775,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE BAC opened at $43.31 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $34.15 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.72 and its 200 day moving average is $43.87.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.