Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,686,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 271,571 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $118,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.1 %

BAC stock opened at $46.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $353.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.25. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $33.17 and a twelve month high of $48.08. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio 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.