Bank OZK Trims Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Bank OZK reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,028 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 1.2% of Bank OZK’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Bank OZK’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,028,000 after buying an additional 2,806,927 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,003 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 24,261,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,066,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,499,000 after acquiring an additional 601,211 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Up 4.7 %

BAC stock opened at $46.19 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $34.03 and a twelve 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 company has a market capitalization of $354.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.56.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

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.