Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Down 0.4%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $37.53 and last traded at $37.68. 5,267,166 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 40,187,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Odeon Capital Group lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC restated 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.61 and its 200-day moving average is $33.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $294.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,734,407,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,198,846 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,538,000 after acquiring an additional 20,362,295 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Bank of America by 1,071.8% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $474,150,000 after purchasing an additional 12,880,492 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.