Sandy Spring Bank Sells 4,706 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,706 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $42.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.76. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $34.15 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target 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, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

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.