Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,192 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.1% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 152.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Baird R W raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.45.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $41.24 on Monday. 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 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.93. The company 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. 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 year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

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.