Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 47,548 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,429,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,548 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $176,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 148,176,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,982,863,000 after acquiring an additional 403,652 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,091,641,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 51,405,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,432,516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557,943 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 124.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,438,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,650,000 after purchasing an additional 875,514 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $51.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $377.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $54.06 and its 200 day moving average is $51.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $57.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.73 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Bank of America News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and other bullish takes following BAC’s solid Q4 results reinforce earnings momentum and analyst support; this underpins investor confidence in BAC’s core earnings and capital outlook. Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Bank of America (BAC) following strong Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Broad earnings?season commentary (Zacks and others) showing rising estimates and a favorable Q4 backdrop supports BAC’s forward EPS outlook and valuation multiples. Earnings Estimates Keep Increasing: A Closer Look
• Positive Sentiment: BofA’s $1B “sharing success”/employee?owner initiative is getting coverage; such programs can help retention and align employee incentives, modestly supportive for execution and cost control over time. Did BAC’s US$1 Billion Sharing Success Plan Just Recast Bank of America’s Employee-Owner Model?
• Neutral Sentiment: BofA research/commentary (MarketWatch piece) promoting international stocks, EM and gold versus bonds highlights the firm’s market views but is unlikely to move BAC shares materially. Now is not the time to own bonds, says Bank of America. These are safer bets.
• Neutral Sentiment: BofA analysts remain active in coverage (example: upgrade of Oklo shows BofA’s analyst influence) — helpful for reputation but indirect for the stock. Oklo Stock Rises as Meta Deal Triggers Bank of America Upgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say BofA is considering offering credit cards at a proposed 10% cap (and CEO Moynihan warned a cap would curb spending). The story raises regulatory and margin?pressure concerns for card balances and interest income — a key driver for bank profitability. Bank of America, Citi consider new credit cards with 10% rate – report
• Negative Sentiment: Additional coverage (Bloomberg/PYMNTS/NYPost/Blockonomi) on the 10% card idea and Moynihan’s comments increases the chance investors re?price BAC to reflect regulatory risk to card yields and consumer?credit availability. Bank of America and Citi Consider Offering Credit Cards With 10% Interest Rate

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Bank of America from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Bank of America from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.74.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.