South Dakota Investment Council Has $10.19 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,700 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 4,187 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 228.3% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 46,950 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $673,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 978,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,799,000 after purchasing an additional 225,767 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC remained flat at $38.37 during trading hours on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 18,506,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,470,113. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $38.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.57.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 33.22%.

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.