Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 657,834,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,180,659 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 0.5% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Bank of America worth $28,911,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,513,000 after buying an additional 5,733,810 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,976,000 after buying an additional 5,493,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after buying an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $42.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.81 and a 200-day moving average of $43.79. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $34.15 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.64.

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.