Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,314,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,797 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.05% of Bank of America worth $145,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 15,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Sunesis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,169,000. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 31,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 8,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.53.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE BAC traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.83. 28,668,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,953,860. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $38.49. The firm has a market cap of $298.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.76.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

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.