Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Takes Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 59,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,593,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $40.97 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $311.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $34.15 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.64.

Bank of America 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.