Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)'s stock price traded down 0.5% during trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $50.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as low as $40.97 and last traded at $41.53. 6,580,183 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 38,216,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.73.

BAC has been the subject of a number of other reports. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $260.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $43.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.91. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's dividend 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.