Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Lessened by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 933,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 47,445 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Bank of America were worth $41,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the fourth 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 acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% during 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, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Bank of America by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,620,028,000 after buying an additional 2,806,927 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.26. The stock had a trading volume of 15,251,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,121,996. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.54. The company has a market capitalization of $306.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 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 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy 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 $47.25.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.