Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,477,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 104,353 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $108,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi grew its stake in Bank of America by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after buying an additional 10,175,100 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Bank of America by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after buying an additional 5,733,810 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Bank of America by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493,817 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BAC opened at $42.61 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $34.15 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $323.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

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.