Guardian Partners Inc. Takes $672,000 Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,168,000 after buying an additional 173,021 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,150,000 after purchasing an additional 10,377 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $42.47 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $322.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.81 and its 200 day moving average is $43.81. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

Bank of America 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.