PGGM Investments Purchases 17,660 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

PGGM Investments grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 142.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,660 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 64,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,158,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $700,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $355,000. Consolidated Planning Corp bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $271,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Bank of America by 47.6% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 383,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,899,000 after buying an additional 123,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $37.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $38.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Odeon Capital Group downgraded Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

About Bank of America

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.