Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,066 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 58,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Private Ocean LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Selective Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $36.44 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.61 and a 200-day moving average of $32.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $38.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, 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 Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.53.

About Bank of America

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.