Capital Investment Counsel Inc Cuts Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,898 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc's holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,794,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,003 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $886,499,000 after purchasing an additional 601,211 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 15,857,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $696,940,000 after purchasing an additional 285,117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.80. 43,472,525 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,078,777. The stock has a market cap of $343.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $33.37 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The stock's fifty day moving average is $45.77 and its 200-day moving average is $43.27. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on BAC shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.