Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 17,133 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,071.8% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $474,150,000 after purchasing an additional 12,880,492 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth $177,970,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 143.5% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,659,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,852,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281,690 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $168,610,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.2 %

BAC traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $37.83. 28,668,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,953,860. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $38.49. The company has a market cap of $298.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.13 and its 200-day moving average is $32.72.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BAC. Citigroup boosted their target price on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.53.

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.