Ruffer LLP Grows Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ruffer LLP raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,727,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,420 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises 4.3% of Ruffer LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Ruffer LLP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $119,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,028,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806,927 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 46,887,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,060,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671,610 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after acquiring an additional 297,858 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $41.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.72. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.