L & S Advisors Inc Has $17.62 Million Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• L & S Advisors Inc increased its Bank of America stake by 37.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 87,738 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 320,374 shares worth about $17.62 million.
• Bank of America recently reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $1.11 versus the $1.00 estimate and revenue of $30.27 billion, both topping expectations. Revenue also rose 10.7% year over year.
• The stock is getting mixed signals: several analysts raised price targets and kept bullish ratings, while Evercore cut its target from $70 to $61. Bank of America also announced a $0.28 quarterly dividend, yielding about 2.3%.

L & S Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 320,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 87,738 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 1.6% of L & S Advisors Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. L & S Advisors Inc's holdings in Bank of America were worth $17,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 566.0% during the fourth quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines 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

Bank of America Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $49.77 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $50.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.44. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $42.35 and a fifty-two week high of $57.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Piper Sandler upped their target price 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. Argus upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 83,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $4,191,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 307,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,362,000. This trade represents a 21.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas M. Scrivener sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total transaction of $2,491,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 227,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,357,614.86. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 354,588 shares of company stock valued at $17,814,296. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Bank of America

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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