Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 452,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 224,698 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $23,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 246.5% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Steph & Co. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 224.3% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 585.4% during the 2nd quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarter — BAC beat EPS and revenue expectations, delivering a tidy profit beat and better-than-expected top-line. Investors view the print as confirmation of stable core performance across trading, NII and fee businesses. View Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Company release and slides available — Management provided a slide deck and PR release with results that give investors timely detail on drivers and trends (useful for assessing sustainability of revenue/expense mix). View Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell sharply in December — reported short interest dropped ~21% to ~90.6M shares at 12/31, reducing potential near-term downside from short-covering dynamics and suggesting less bearish positioning. (Market data)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and market prep priced in a close call — consensus expectations were near BAC’s print (LSEG/CNBC previews), and commentators (Zacks, Jim Cramer) expected another steady quarter; this limits surprise-driven volatility. Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: BofA research notes broader market opportunities — the firm’s macro/research calls (e.g., AI-related bond market potential) support sector narratives but are not direct drivers of BAC’s near-term P&L. AI Bond Sales Note
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/policy risk from proposed credit-card rate cap — President Trump’s suggested 10% cap on credit-card interest and subsequent industry pushback have pressured bank stocks and could meaningfully hit card revenue/consumer credit availability if enacted or if the policy debate intensifies. Banks Warn on 10% Cap

Bank of America Stock Down 1.3%

BAC opened at $54.47 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $57.55. The firm has a market cap of $397.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly 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 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $28.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.73 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research cut Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Argus boosted their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.91.

About Bank of America

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.