DNB Asset Management AS Boosts Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• DNB Asset Management AS increased its Bank of America stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 192,672 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 4.83 million shares valued at about $265.8 million.
• Bank of America continues to draw mostly positive analyst attention, with 22 analysts rating it a Buy and a consensus price target of $61.06, though Evercore recently trimmed its target from $70 to $61.
• The bank reported better-than-expected quarterly results, earning $1.11 per share on revenue of $30.27 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share to be paid June 26.

DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,832,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 192,672 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for 0.9% of DNB Asset Management AS's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. DNB Asset Management AS owned 0.07% of Bank of America worth $265,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DecisionMap Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. DecisionMap Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 4,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners increased its position in Bank of America by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 7,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its position in Bank of America by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 19,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,092,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 4.2% in the third quarter. Riverview Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Bank of America

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America is being highlighted as a potential beneficiary of a “higher-for-longer” or steeper yield-curve environment, which could support lending margins and fixed-rate asset repricing for large banks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also viewing Bank of America as one of the better-value large banks, with commentary pointing to its relatively attractive valuation and Buffett-backed reputation as reasons it could hold up well versus peers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are also using Bank of America’s research platform to make calls on other stocks, including Alphabet, Taiwan Semiconductor, ASML, Nvidia, Akamai, IQVIA, and VNET. These notes reinforce BofA’s influence on markets, but they do not directly change BAC’s fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Evercore lowered its price target on Bank of America from $70 to $61, which is a modest caution signal even though the firm kept an Outperform rating. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 94,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total value of $4,412,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 170,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,988,436.96. This represents a 35.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas M. Scrivener sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total value of $2,491,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 227,973 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,357,614.86. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 354,588 shares of company stock worth $17,814,296. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BAC. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Argus upped their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Bank of America from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.06.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $49.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $353.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.44. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.35 and a twelve month high of $57.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $30.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.72 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.78%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 27.72%.

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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