Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. cut its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 932,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 197,923 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $40,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,747,658,000 after buying an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.25.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BAC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.95. 28,204,374 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,214,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $311.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average is $39.89 and its 200-day moving average is $43.50. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.07 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.95%.

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.