Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price dropped 0.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $43.66 and last traded at $44.28. Approximately 16,078,558 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 44,255,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus cut their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Cfra Research increased their price target on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.50.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.6%

The stock has a market cap of $336.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.55. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 30.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 559,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,344,000 after acquiring an additional 158,528 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,387,000 after acquiring an additional 34,146 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $299,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 26.1% during the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 195,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,170,000 after buying an additional 40,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.