William Blair Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. $BBVA

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) by 44.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,322 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 76,502 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria were worth $2,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BBVA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,478,000. Archford Capital Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 4th quarter valued at $3,286,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,846,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,288,000 after buying an additional 297,752 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,114,000. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 250.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 246,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,738,000 after buying an additional 175,976 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.96% of the company’s stock.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of BBVA stock opened at $23.25 on Wednesday. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. has a 12-month low of $14.63 and a 12-month high of $26.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.81.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 28.21%.The firm had revenue of $12.33 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.7084 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 626.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria’s payout ratio is 53.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays cut shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Profile

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) is a Spanish multinational financial services group headquartered in Bilbao, Spain. The bank traces its roots to several historic regional banks and was formed through a series of mergers that consolidated its position as one of Spain’s largest banking groups. BBVA operates as a universal bank offering a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional clients.

BBVA’s core businesses include retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, private banking and wealth management, asset management, and insurance.