Live Oak Private Wealth LLC Trims Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 373,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,193 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises about 2.8% of Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $16,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Bank of America by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733,810 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Bank of America by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,976,000 after purchasing an additional 5,493,817 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $47.74 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.85. The company has a market capitalization 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 current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $32.35 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

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.