CWS Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $204,000 Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733,810 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493,817 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $174,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $44.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.73 and a 200-day moving average of $43.46. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $33.53 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.