Eastern Bank Purchases 119,402 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Eastern Bank increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,135,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,402 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up 0.9% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $49,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $174,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.12. The company had a trading volume of 22,796,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,812,879. The firm has a market cap of $346.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $31.27 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.22.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

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.