Manning & Napier Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Manning & Napier Group LLC trimmed its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,103,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 180,157 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $37,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its stake in Bank of America by 98.1% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 192.3% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.11 on Friday, hitting $37.92. The stock had a trading volume of 42,262,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,416,252. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $299.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.35. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $38.00.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.70 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 11.38%. Bank of America’s revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 31.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.15.

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.