Appleton Partners Inc. MA Decreases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,432 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during 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. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %

BAC stock opened at $47.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $363.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $32.35 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.88. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BAC. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.