Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $600.56 Million Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,391,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 416,283 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Bank of America worth $600,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $48.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $366.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.39. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.07 and a twelve month high of $49.00.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.56%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of Bank of America and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Cowen assumed coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.98.

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.