Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 13,906 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. decreased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,133,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,906 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 1.6% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $49,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after buying an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,164,000 after buying an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,499,000 after purchasing an additional 601,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 0.4% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $45.04. The stock had a trading volume of 14,235,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,749,668. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $31.27 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $345.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.50.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company 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.