Empirical Finance LLC Sells 3,656 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,656 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for approximately 0.6% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Accent Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares during the period. Clarendon Private LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $798,000. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Bank of America by 125.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $47.43 on Friday. 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 market cap of $363.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $32.35 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.92.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.