Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 21,000 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 359,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,000 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $15,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.80 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $359.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $32.35 and a 52 week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAC shares. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

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.