RiverFront Investment Group LLC Purchases 49,764 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,764 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Bridge LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 182.3% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 566.0% during the fourth quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $49.77 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.44. The firm has a market cap of $353.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $42.35 and a 52 week high of $57.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $30.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.72 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.78%.Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.72%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider Thomas M. Scrivener sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total value of $2,491,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 227,973 shares in the company, valued at $11,357,614.86. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James P. Demare sold 83,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $4,191,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 307,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,362,000. This represents a 21.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 354,588 shares of company stock worth $17,814,296 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

More Bank of America News

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America is being highlighted as a potential beneficiary of a “higher-for-longer” or steeper yield-curve environment, which could support lending margins and fixed-rate asset repricing for large banks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also viewing Bank of America as one of the better-value large banks, with commentary pointing to its relatively attractive valuation and Buffett-backed reputation as reasons it could hold up well versus peers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are also using Bank of America’s research platform to make calls on other stocks, including Alphabet, Taiwan Semiconductor, ASML, Nvidia, Akamai, IQVIA, and VNET. These notes reinforce BofA’s influence on markets, but they do not directly change BAC’s fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Evercore lowered its price target on Bank of America from $70 to $61, which is a modest caution signal even though the firm kept an Outperform rating. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.06.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.