Heritage Investors Management Corp Trims Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Heritage Investors Management Corp reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 738,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,912 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for approximately 1.0% of Heritage Investors Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $32,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Corrado Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. Carlson Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,292,000. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 74,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $43.96 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.50. The company has a market capitalization of $337.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $33.71 and a twelve month high of $48.08. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.