Bridgewater Associates LP Invests $13.16 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 331,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,162,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $127,252,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,031,639 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total transaction of $326,566,441.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 874,692,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,564,987,454.24. The trade was a 0.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,007,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,836,123. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $47.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.92. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $47.98. The company has a market cap of $366.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.