Arvest Investments Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Arvest Investments Inc. lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 16.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,153 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $44.72 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.46. The stock has a market cap of $336.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.30. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.07 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, 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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Cfra Research increased their target price on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup lowered 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 note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.69.

Bank of America 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.