Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,766,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 168,313 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $119,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,168,000 after purchasing an additional 173,021 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,150,000 after buying an additional 10,377 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,006,000 after buying an additional 38,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank of America by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after acquiring an additional 297,858 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $34.37 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $261.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $32.70 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.94.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

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.