Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Short Interest Down 21.2% in December

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 90,554,920 shares, a decrease of 21.2% from the December 15th total of 114,878,738 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 33,457,146 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Based on an average trading volume of 33,457,146 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,091,641,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 640.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 46,516,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,399,798,000 after acquiring an additional 40,235,201 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 144,371,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,448,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,275,810 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 124.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $833,771,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782,208 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth $224,863,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.74.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $53.02. 52,040,485 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,073,882. Bank of America has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $57.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.27.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 16.23%.The business had revenue of $28.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.24%.

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.