Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 366 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,648,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,469 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,520,000 after buying an additional 1,315,056 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 20,362,295 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,267,666,000 after buying an additional 5,484,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 22,538,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $758,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,096 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, reaching $38.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,851,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,358,504. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $38.49. 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 firm has a market cap of $299.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

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.