Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 90.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 70,116 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $42.47 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $322.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

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.