Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,338 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 16,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $527,000. ASB Consultores LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 65.7% in the third quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 16,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 6,522 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 4.8% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 3,975 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.41.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $41.59. 31,369,845 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,247,113. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $41.92. The company has a market cap of $325.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

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.