Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Lessened by Arvest Investments Inc.

Arvest Investments Inc. reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,153 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 59,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Finally, Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,188 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cfra Research raised their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.69.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.04. The company had a trading volume of 43,276,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,751,425. 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 1-year low of $33.07 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $331.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.50 and a 200-day moving average of $43.42.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.95%.

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.