39,585 Shares in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Bought by Essential Planning LLC.

Essential Planning LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 39,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,739,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its position in Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $39.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $303.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.15 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

About Bank of America

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.