Fortem Financial Group LLC Sells 21,587 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Fortem Financial Group LLC cut its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 51.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,587 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 4,629,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,603,080 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 26.6% during the third quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 198,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,262,000 after purchasing an additional 41,809 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its position in Bank of America by 11.2% during the third quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 677,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,974,000 after purchasing an additional 68,093 shares during the period. Constant Guidance Financial LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 603.4% during the third quarter. Constant Guidance Financial LLC now owns 24,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 20,831 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth approximately $27,629,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s internal research is being cited as bullish for the bank sector, with commentary that higher rates can still support net interest income even as the Fed holds rates steady, which could help BAC’s earnings outlook. Fed Holds Rates But Signals Hike: Key Takeaways for Bank Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also drew attention for its view that lower-income households may be stabilizing, suggesting the consumer backdrop could be improving and reducing recession fears that would hurt loan growth and credit quality. Miserable K-shaped economy might actually be fading, as lower-income families bounce back, says Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America revealed a roughly 3% indirect stake in Qiagen and reported similar holdings disclosures for Umicore; these are portfolio/ownership updates and are unlikely to have a direct impact on BAC’s core banking results. Bank of America Reveals 3.01% Indirect Stake in Qiagen Umicore – Transparency notifications by Bank of America Corporation
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that a Fed official spoke at a private Bank of America client dinner may attract headlines, but it appears more like a reputational/regulatory talking point than a direct earnings driver. The Fed’s vice chair of supervision spoke at a private dinner Bank of America hosted for clients hours after the central bank announced its latest policy decision
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America is facing fresh scrutiny tied to regulators’ upcoming “debanking” findings, which could create policy and compliance concerns for large banks like BAC. Bank Of America (BAC) Faces Fresh Scrutiny As Regulators Ready Debanking Findings

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BAC shares. Evercore cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $70.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Bank of America from $61.50 to $57.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Bank of America from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.06.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.1%

BAC opened at $56.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.54. The company has a market capitalization of $399.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.18. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $44.75 and a 1-year high of $57.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $30.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.72 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 27.72%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at $72,803,774.97. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.