Straightline Group LLC Purchases New Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Straightline Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000. Bank of America makes up about 0.3% of Straightline Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. 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. UBS Group raised 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. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.31.

Bank of America Stock Up 3.4 %

BAC opened at $35.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $270.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $33.54 and a 52 week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Bank of America Company 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.