KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,628,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $115,533,000. Bank of America makes up about 0.5% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,042,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,441,000 after buying an additional 50,849 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,024,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $479,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 500,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,863,000 after buying an additional 16,032 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.0 %

BAC stock opened at $42.47 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.77. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $34.15 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $322.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted 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 note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

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.