Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 2.5% – Should You Sell?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded down 2.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $35.04 and last traded at $34.96. 17,641,708 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 39,059,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.31.

Bank of America Price Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $274.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.71.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA increased its stake 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 valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in Bank of America by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.