Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Trims Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 234,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,059 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 1.9% of Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hosking Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,657,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,836,000 after purchasing an additional 72,122 shares during the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 92,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Bank of America by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 56,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 13,927 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA increased its stake in Bank of America by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA now owns 27,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 5,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fusion Capital LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fusion Capital LLC now owns 185,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,134,000 after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $44.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.50. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.03 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $338.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler lowered 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 research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 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, 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 an average price target of $48.58.

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.