Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 98.1% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 192.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Private Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:BAC traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.83. 28,668,680 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,953,860. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $38.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $298.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.53.

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.