Westpac Banking Corp Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 283,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,826 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises approximately 0.8% of Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its holdings in Bank of America by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $41.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $318.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 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.