Sciencast Management LP Lowers Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sciencast Management LP lowered its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 78.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,588 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 55,595 shares during the quarter. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in Bank of America were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi boosted its position in Bank of America by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 10,175,100 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake 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 valued at $561,513,000 after buying an additional 5,733,810 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Bank of America by 130.9% in 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 lifted its position in Bank of America by 193.4% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.45.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.81. 30,002,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,833,090. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $325.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.87. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 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.