Voya Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Voya Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 263 shares during the quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806,927 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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. Finally, Cfra Research lifted their price target on shares of 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 issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.43.

Bank of America Stock Up 2.2 %

Bank of America stock opened at $39.59 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $33.07 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.62 and a 200-day moving average of $43.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

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.