Bailard Inc. Cuts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Bailard Inc. cut its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 267,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,196 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 160,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,390,000 after acquiring an additional 9,240 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $324,000. Wynn Capital LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $1,388,000. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $250,000. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 28,655,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,609,586. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.61. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.49. The company has a market capitalization of $302.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

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.