Zacks Investment Management Lowers Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Zacks Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,186,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 64,741 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for 0.9% of Zacks Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $96,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,243,000,000 after buying an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,226,989,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806,927 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 46,887,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,060,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,886,769,000 after buying an additional 297,858 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $38.03 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.66. The firm has a market cap of $289.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.