Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,222,289 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 145,316 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.10% of Air Lease worth $58,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,415,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $134,332,000 after buying an additional 842,780 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Air Lease by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $98,830,000 after purchasing an additional 690,000 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Air Lease during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,414,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,226,921 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $155,570,000 after buying an additional 389,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Lease has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Price Performance

AL traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.48. 661,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 773,151. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $38.25 and a 1 year high of $57.80. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $47.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $738.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.70 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total value of $568,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,316 shares in the company, valued at $8,318,064.60. The trade was a 6.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.64% of the company's stock.

Air Lease Profile

Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet aircraft to airlines worldwide. It sells aircraft from its fleet to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, airlines, and other investors. The company provides fleet management services to investors and owners of aircraft portfolios.