World Investment Advisors Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 168,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,564 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,091,641,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Bank of America by 124.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $833,771,000 after buying an additional 9,782,208 shares during the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $202,439,000. Unisphere Establishment grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,642.5% during the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,057,000 after acquiring an additional 3,954,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 881.5% in the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 4,210,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $199,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,781,417 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $56.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $53.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.10. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $56.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.59.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.