Umpqua Bank Purchases 1,917 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 73,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 1.2% of Umpqua Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,028,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806,927 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 46,887,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,060,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671,610 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after acquiring an additional 297,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Bank of America by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after buying an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $42.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.77. The stock has a market cap of $322.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. 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 $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.