Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 22,744 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 302,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,744 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $15,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% during the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 60,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,110,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. increased its position in Bank of America by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 14,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in Bank of America by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 13,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Motive Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 5,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 8,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Bank of America

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America is committing roughly $25 billion of its balance sheet to private-credit deals, a move that can boost fee income and lending yields as the bank leverages its scale to provide direct financing. This is a clear strategic push into higher-return, fee-generating activity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Merrill (Bank of America’s wealth arm) launched the Direct Markets Group, a specialized trading desk for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices ($50M+). That targets a lucrative client segment and could raise trading/commission revenues and client retention over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America research continues to be active in the market (examples include published stock picks and analyst actions), which raises the firm’s profile but has limited direct impact on BAC’s own fundamentals. These notes can influence market perception but are not company earnings or capital events. Read More.

Bank of America Stock Down 3.8%

BAC stock opened at $51.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $372.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $57.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $54.21 and its 200-day moving average is $52.36.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 29.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Bank of America from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.30.

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.