North Dakota State Investment Board Takes $12.72 Million Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 231,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,719,000. Bank of America accounts for approximately 0.5% of North Dakota State Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 54.6% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 20,591 shares during the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its position in Bank of America by 15.9% in the third quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 629,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,482,000 after purchasing an additional 86,290 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $482,000. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. raised its position in Bank of America by 26.6% in the third quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 198,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,262,000 after purchasing an additional 41,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its position in Bank of America by 11.2% in the third quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 677,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,974,000 after purchasing an additional 68,093 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Bank of America from $61.50 to $57.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Autonomous Res dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $70.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.06.

Bank of America News Roundup

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

Bank of America stock opened at $49.77 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.40 and its 200 day moving average is $52.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $353.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $42.35 and a one year high of $57.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $30.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.72 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.78%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 27.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 83,832 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $4,191,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 307,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,362,000. The trade was a 21.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 94,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total value of $4,412,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 170,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,988,436.96. The trade was a 35.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 354,588 shares of company stock valued at $17,814,296 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Profile

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.