Employees Retirement System of Texas Acquires 17,880 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,880 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after buying an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

Bank of America stock opened at $43.20 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $325.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.34 and its 200 day moving average is $43.59. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $33.07 and a 12-month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cfra Research lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

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.