HTLF Bank Buys Shares of 16,889 Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

HTLF Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 4,187 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Bank of America by 354.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 119,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,278,000 after acquiring an additional 93,375 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 228.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,000 after acquiring an additional 46,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $673,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $36.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.31. The company has a market capitalization of $291.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $38.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.53.

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.