Independence Bank of Kentucky Grows Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,921 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky's holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $45.01 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $40.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.50. The company has a market cap of $339.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. 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.

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