Cullen Capital Management LLC Sells 285,168 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cullen Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,687,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 285,168 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for approximately 2.9% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Bank of America worth $249,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 152.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BAC. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.31.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $34.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $261.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.88. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $33.67 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.