Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Strategic Advocates LLC

Strategic Advocates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 46.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,474 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,106 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 lifted its stake 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 worth $886,499,000 after purchasing an additional 601,211 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 59,853 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $46.25. 30,387,640 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,972,270. The stock's fifty day moving average is $45.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.76. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $32.35 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $354.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.58.

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.