Umpqua Bank Grows Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 73,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 1.2% of Umpqua Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Bank of America by 4.9% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 2,806,927 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 46,887,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,060,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,671,610 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 297,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.0 %

BAC opened at $42.47 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $34.15 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.