Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,807,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 607,828 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Bank of America worth $650,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $5,546,871,000 after buying an additional 1,700,141 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 4.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,794,164,000 after buying an additional 1,731,003 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $886,499,000 after buying an additional 601,211 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 15,857,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $696,940,000 after purchasing an additional 285,117 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler decreased 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 research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,858,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,331,352. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $45.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.23. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $33.17 and a 12-month high of $48.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $352.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Bank of America Company 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.