Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Position Boosted by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $11,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Bank of America by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,168,000 after buying an additional 173,021 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Bank of America by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,150,000 after purchasing an additional 10,377 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,886,769,000 after buying an additional 297,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 4.5 %

BAC stock traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $35.49. 9,909,151 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,825,335. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $33.07 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.74.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on BAC shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Bank of America 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.