Virtu Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 5,520 Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.45.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $41.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.86. The company has a market capitalization of $313.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G 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 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. 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.