Ariel Investments LLC Sells 4,539 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ariel Investments LLC decreased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 164,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,539 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA grew its position in Bank of America by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.25.

Bank of America Stock Up 2.3 %

Bank of America stock opened at $41.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $312.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $33.07 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. On average, equities research 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.95%.

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.