Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 2.8% – What’s Next?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) fell 2.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $41.26 and last traded at $41.37. 7,651,860 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 35,691,200 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.45.

Bank of America Trading Down 3.1 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $44.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $313.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

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 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc increased its stake in Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.