CoreFirst Bank & Trust Takes Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 6,251,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,767,000 after purchasing an additional 753,880 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $285,000. TAGStone Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 19,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $870,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 111,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,893,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of BAC opened at $43.09 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.77 and its 200 day moving average is $43.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. 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 capitalization of $327.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.45.

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.