Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Acquired by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 473,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,769 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $20,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Bank of America by 0.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,042,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,441,000 after purchasing an additional 50,849 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 15.9% during the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 6,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $2,029,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $1,516,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $41.47 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $315.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.