Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Purchases 201,750 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 988,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 201,750 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 1.7% of Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $43,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 81,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,678,000 after acquiring an additional 22,027 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $663,000. 1858 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 376,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after buying an additional 142,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One SA PTY Ltd bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,361,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $32.35 and a one year high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.