Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,583,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,710 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $113,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,042,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,441,000 after acquiring an additional 50,849 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.8% during the third quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 1,146,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,508,000 after buying an additional 9,531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.4 %

Bank of America stock opened at $46.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $360.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.