Rakuten Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Roundview Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 135,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 150.3% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 405,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,698,000 after buying an additional 16,319 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $586,000. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $534,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.29.

Bank of America Trading Down 3.5 %

Bank of America stock traded down $1.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.68. The company had a trading volume of 95,566,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,278,272. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $38.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.27%.

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.