Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by First County Bank CT

First County Bank CT decreased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 34.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,902 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $671,000. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in Bank of America by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 210,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,242,000 after buying an additional 48,209 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 119,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,269,000 after buying an additional 8,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 17,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $353.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $31.27 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

About Bank of America

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.