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

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded down 2.8% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $41.26 and last traded at $41.37. 7,651,860 shares changed 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

Bank of America Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.89. The company has a market capitalization of $313.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,168,000 after buying an additional 173,021 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Bank of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,150,000 after purchasing an additional 10,377 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,858 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.