Wealth Alliance Raises Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Wealth Alliance increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,560 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the 4th 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 shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $45.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.27. 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 1 year low of $33.17 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $347.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.