Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Sells 336,450 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Lockheed Martin Investment Management cut its Bank of America stake by 53.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 336,450 shares and leaving it with 293,160 shares valued at about $16.1 million.
• Insider selling has also been active: company insiders sold 354,588 shares worth about $17.8 million over the last 90 days, including large sales by James P. Demare and Geoffrey S. Greener.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on BAC, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $61.06; the stock recently traded at $49.77 and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 53.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293,160 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 336,450 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $16,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Bridge LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 182.3% in 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. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth $30,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 566.0% in 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. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 83,832 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $4,191,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 307,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,362,000. The trade was a 21.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,803,774.97. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 354,588 shares of company stock valued at $17,814,296 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.06.

More Bank of America News

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 Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $49.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $353.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.35 and a 1-year high of $57.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $30.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.72 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

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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