Todd Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Todd Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 700,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 113,209 shares during the quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $23,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,648,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,222,000 after buying an additional 1,397,469 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,130,538,000 after acquiring an additional 20,362,295 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,518,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,383,000 after acquiring an additional 746,756 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,267,666,000 after purchasing an additional 5,484,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 22,538,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $758,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,096 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.25. 34,082,662 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,339,492. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $38.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.08. The firm has a market cap of $291.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.70.

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.