Maltese Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Maltese Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 60,000 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 1.5% of Maltese Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $649,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 54.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,591 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 86,290 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 21.8% in the third quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 73,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,779,000 after acquiring an additional 13,119 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $482,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 83,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $4,191,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 307,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,362,000. The trade was a 21.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 94,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total transaction of $4,412,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 170,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,988,436.96. This represents a 35.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 227,832 shares of company stock worth $11,094,960 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Bank of America News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 net interest income (NII) is tracking at least 7% higher year-over-year, which supports near-term earnings and helps offset pressure on other revenue lines. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary is flagging BAC as a deep-value, dividend-paying bank after recent sector selloff (forward P/E in value territory and a ~2.5% yield); that framing can attract value-oriented buyers if sector sentiment stabilizes. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product/brand move — BofA and Zelle launched faster charitable disbursements from donor-advised funds, a modest but constructive customer-engagement initiative that can deepen deposit and payments relationships over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BofA research raised semiconductor estimates, saying the Iran conflict is unlikely to meaningfully disrupt chip supply chains; useful for sector allocation but only an indirect read-through for bank trading or lending exposure. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commodities/research note: BofA raised its Brent oil forecast after Strait of Hormuz disruptions — market volatility in energy can boost trading/markets revenue but also raises macro risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory hit — Bank of America agreed to settle a civil lawsuit brought by women accusing the bank of failing to report suspicious Jeffrey Epstein-related transactions. Settlement details are being reported; even if financial impact is manageable, reputational and regulatory scrutiny are negatives for sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — International President Bernard Mensah disclosed a sale of ~94,000 shares (~$4.4M). Large insider sales can weigh on near-term sentiment even if they are routine or for diversification. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk warning — BofA economists say investors may be underestimating how the Iran war could disrupt the global economy; elevated geopolitical risk raises downside for markets and bank credit/trading exposure. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on Bank of America from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Bank of America from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.30.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $47.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $337.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.46. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $57.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 29.24%.

Bank of America Company 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.