Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Sells 30,118 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 139,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,118 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $43.97 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.53 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $337.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BAC. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Company 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.