Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 2.8% – Here’s What Happened

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares fell 2.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $41.26 and last traded at $41.37. 7,651,860 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 35,691,200 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BAC. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.45.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.85. The company has a market cap of $312.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $6,753,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $1,591,000. Finally, Triton Wealth Management PLLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 11,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.