Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 938,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,086 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $41,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,306.5% in the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $41.39 on Monday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $34.15 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $314.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.75.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company 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 revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday. 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, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.64.

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.