Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Holdings Decreased by Private Management Group Inc.

Private Management Group Inc. trimmed its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 492 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after buying an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,164,000 after buying an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,499,000 after buying an additional 601,211 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,264,000 after buying an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $47.74 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.85. The company has a market cap of $366.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $32.35 and a 12 month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

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.