Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 1,080,789 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,085,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,080,789 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $223,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Collier Financial bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 152.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $34.37 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $33.67 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.91. The company has a market capitalization of $261.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.31.

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.