South Dakota Investment Council Has $8.64 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 196,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,800 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,306.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $44.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $343.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.37. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $33.37 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Bank of America 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.