Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 84,699 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,054,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 84,699 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $35,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 97.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,538,000 after acquiring an additional 20,362,295 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,071.8% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $474,150,000 after buying an additional 12,880,492 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $177,970,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Bank of America by 143.5% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,659,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,852,000 after buying an additional 6,281,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $168,610,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $37.69. The company had a trading volume of 28,403,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,729,758. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.54 and a 200-day moving average of $33.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $294.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $38.49.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

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.