Kentucky Retirement Systems Raises Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 108.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 880,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 457,142 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up approximately 1.5% of Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Bank of America were worth $42,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,076,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,809,225,000 after purchasing an additional 23,351,183 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $4,774,210,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,619,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,169,062,000 after buying an additional 2,929,779 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 53,783,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,958,110,000 after buying an additional 1,105,833 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,172,503 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,594,488,000 after buying an additional 2,611,776 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $61.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $433.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.45. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $44.75 and a one year high of $62.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 17.56% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The business had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 29.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Autonomous Res reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Argus set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,373,397 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $72,803,774.97. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Bank of America News

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its BAC price target and rating. JPMorgan increased its target from $62.50 to $68.00 and assigned an “overweight” rating, implying meaningful potential upside based on the referenced price. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: Higher earnings forecasts support the long-term outlook. Erste Group raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for Bank of America to $4.64 from $4.53 and its FY2027 estimate to $5.20 from $5.13. The FY2027 forecast is above the broader consensus cited in the report. Erste Group earnings estimate article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains generally favorable. Recent coverage highlights BAC’s second-quarter performance relative to diversified-bank peers and identifies the company as a potential beneficiary of artificial-intelligence adoption through operating-efficiency and margin gains. Bank of America AI beneficiaries article
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America disclosed changes in its Umicore stake. Umicore reported that BAC repeatedly crossed the 3% transparency threshold, with the position remaining around that level. The disclosure does not indicate a material change to BAC’s core business. Umicore stake article
• Negative Sentiment: Broad bank-sector selling weighed on BAC. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all declined as investors positioned ahead of the Fed meeting. Uncertainty over whether rates will remain unchanged—or potentially move higher—has increased volatility across financial stocks. Bank stocks ahead of Fed meeting article

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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