Welch Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Welch Group LLC lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,781 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its position in Bank of America by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 38,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 38,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 964 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 14,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,988,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.83 and a 200-day moving average of $42.77. The company has a market cap of $354.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $32.35 and a 1 year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.