Tufton Capital Management Sells 1,263 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Tufton Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 244,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,263 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for approximately 2.0% of Tufton Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after buying an additional 10,175,100 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in Bank of America by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after buying an additional 5,733,810 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in Bank of America by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,976,000 after buying an additional 5,493,817 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Bank of America by 193.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after buying an additional 5,015,378 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth approximately $174,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.5 %

Bank of America stock opened at $44.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.03 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $338.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.50.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.