Hancock Whitney Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Hancock Whitney Corp decreased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,575 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $127,252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares in the company, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. This trade represents a 0.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 85,027,690 shares of company stock worth $3,435,115,636. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $47.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $364.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.76. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

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.