Meridian Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its position in Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target 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. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $45.51 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $34.15 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. 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 announced its earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.