Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP decreased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 78.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,595 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 545,936 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BAC. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $42.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $322.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.81 and its 200-day moving average is $43.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.