Eastern Bank Purchases 119,402 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,135,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 119,402 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 0.9% of Eastern Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $49,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.01 on Monday, hitting $45.12. The stock had a trading volume of 22,796,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,812,879. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $31.27 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $346.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.22.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Company 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.