California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System cut its Bank of America stake by 7.1% in the first quarter, selling 1,393,195 shares and leaving it with 18.2 million shares worth about $888.3 million.
• Despite the stake reduction, Wall Street sentiment remains positive: several analysts raised price targets, and the stock currently carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a target price of $63.77.
• Bank of America reported strong quarterly earnings, beating EPS expectations with $1.21 per share, while also continuing shareholder returns through its regular dividend and preferred stock dividend declarations.

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,221,359 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,393,195 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up approximately 0.5% of California Public Employees Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.26% of Bank of America worth $888,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,524,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 90.8% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 36,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 17,239 shares in the last quarter. FSA Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 28.9% in the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 7,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Bank of America

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America declared regular cash dividends on multiple preferred stock series, reinforcing its continued capital return to shareholders. Bank of America Declares Preferred Stock Dividends Payable in August and September 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms lifted their outlooks on BAC, including higher earnings estimates for FY2026 and FY2027, suggesting improving expectations for profitability. Bank of America stock page
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s recent Q2 results were broadly strong, with the company topping estimates and benefiting from robust trading and deal activity, which has helped support investor confidence in the stock. BofA rides market whiplash to trading records, deal activity shines
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America also announced internal AI leadership appointments to accelerate AI adoption in its global markets business, a strategic move that could improve efficiency over time but is not an immediate earnings driver. BofA names senior executives to drive AI adoption in global markets-memo

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $6,719,335.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at $72,803,774.97. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.77.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $61.18 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $55.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.15. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.75 and a 52 week high of $62.12. The stock has a market cap of $434.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.08. Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 17.56%.The firm had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.69%.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.

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