Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 1.7%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares dropped 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $37.38 and last traded at $37.68. Approximately 11,224,357 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 41,217,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.53.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.13 and a 200-day moving average of $32.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $3,734,407,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,198,846 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,071.8% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $474,150,000 after purchasing an additional 12,880,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.