Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,593 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 33,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 39,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 9,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,042,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,441,000 after purchasing an additional 50,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynch & Associates IN raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 146,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,831,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.21 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $354.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $32.35 and a one 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’s fifty day moving average price is $45.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.00.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

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.