Straightline Group LLC Takes $401,000 Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Straightline Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 9,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000. Bank of America accounts for about 0.3% of Straightline Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,226,989,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733,810 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,976,000 after purchasing an additional 5,493,817 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $186,916,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BAC. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.31.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $35.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $270.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.90. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.54 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.