DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Acquires 9,258,040 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,258,040 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up approximately 1.7% of DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,716,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE BAC opened at $40.86 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $33.07 and a one year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.25.

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.