Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 572,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,700 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 0.5% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $25,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 43.0% during the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after buying an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $798,000. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in Bank of America by 125.8% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 33,983 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BAC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $43.97 on Wednesday. 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 $33.53 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $337.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.71 and its 200-day moving average is $43.50.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.