Argent Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Argent Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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 last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BAC shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of 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 raised their target price 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. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $41.47 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $34.15 and a one year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.77. The company has a market cap of $315.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

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 return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.