Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,626,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,885,631 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 0.5% of Legal & General Group Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.56% of Bank of America worth $1,873,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% in the 4th 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. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BAC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.31.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $34.37 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 fifty-two week low of $32.70 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $261.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.94.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. 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.