Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Acquired by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its Bank of America stake by 171.4% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 15,816 shares valued at approximately $861,000. Institutional investors collectively own 70.71% of BAC.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 20 Buy ratings and six Holds, resulting in a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $62.52.
• Bank of America reported quarterly EPS of $1.08 and revenue of $29.96 billion, narrowly missing estimates, while revenue rose 3.2% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.32 per share, equivalent to a 2.5% yield.

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 171.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,988 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% during the second quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 4,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 16,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GatePass Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. GatePass Capital LLC now owns 5,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus set a $70.00 price objective on Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Bank of America from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their target price on Bank of America from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Evercore set a $62.00 price target on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.52.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $51.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $361.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $46.12 and a 52-week high of $65.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.72.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.02). Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 16.80%. The firm had revenue of $29.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 29.36%.

Key Headlines Impacting Bank of America

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Net interest income increased 8% year over year to approximately $16.4 billion, while average loans rose 6% and deposits grew 2%. Management also targeted at least 8% net-interest-income growth in 2027, supported by loan and deposit expansion. BAC Q3 Earnings Call Highlights NII Growth and Trading Pressure
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer banking and wealth management remained areas of strength, with Merrill’s fee-based advisory assets reaching a record $1.9 trillion. Bank of America also returned $8.3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Merrill Lynch’s Fee-Based Advisory Assets Just Hit a Record $1.9 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Despite lower targets, several analysts retained favorable views. Baird upgraded BAC to “outperform,” while Citigroup, Truist and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods maintained buy or outperform ratings. The revised targets remain above the current share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America said it has added roughly 1,000 contractors alongside 3,000 employees to address software vulnerabilities identified by advanced AI tools. The spending pressures near-term expenses but could reduce technology and operational risk over time. Bank of America hired 1,000 contractors to patch software flaws exposed by Anthropic’s Mythos
• Negative Sentiment: Regulators imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties for failures involving anti-money-laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions compliance, including the failure to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions. The charge reduced reported third-quarter EPS and raised concerns about management’s controls and potential remediation costs. Bank of America profit hurt by $1.2 billion fine over anti-money laundering shortcomings
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.08 and revenue of roughly $30.0 billion missed consensus estimates. Fixed-income trading revenue fell 17%, investment-banking activity weakened, expenses grew faster than revenue, and credit-loss provisions reached approximately $1.3 billion. Analysts subsequently lowered price targets, including Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Piper Sandler and Citigroup.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced investigations into potential securities-law violations or breaches of fiduciary duty following the penalty and earnings miss. These notices do not establish liability but add reputational and potential litigation risk for BAC investors.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation NYSE: BAC is a diversified financial services company serving individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its principal businesses include consumer banking, wealth and investment management, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and sales and trading.

Through its banking and financial services businesses, the company offers deposit accounts, credit cards, mortgages, home equity products, consumer and business loans, payment services, treasury management, brokerage services and investment advice.

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