Bank of America Corp DE Sells 24,797,217 Shares of Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its position in shares of Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD - Free Report) by 82.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,362,519 shares of the bank's stock after selling 24,797,217 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.05% of Banco Bradesco worth $10,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BBD. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 215.1% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 82,839,944 shares of the bank's stock valued at $158,224,000 after purchasing an additional 56,552,808 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Banco Bradesco by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 100,202,214 shares of the bank's stock worth $191,386,000 after acquiring an additional 12,236,689 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Banco Bradesco by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 50,826,745 shares of the bank's stock valued at $97,079,000 after purchasing an additional 10,537,751 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Banco Bradesco by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 56,809,743 shares of the bank's stock valued at $108,507,000 after purchasing an additional 9,762,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Banco Bradesco by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 27,742,604 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,988,000 after purchasing an additional 8,661,231 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on BBD. Bank of America raised shares of Banco Bradesco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Banco Bradesco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Bradesco from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $2.40 to $2.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banco Bradesco has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $2.40.

Banco Bradesco Stock Performance

Banco Bradesco stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $2.88. 28,068,940 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,501,421. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.19. Banco Bradesco S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $1.84 and a fifty-two week high of $2.96. The stock has a market cap of $30.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.65.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The bank reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09. Banco Bradesco had a net margin of 8.46% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $5.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.24 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Banco Bradesco S.A. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bradesco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.0022 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Banco Bradesco's payout ratio is 6.25%.

Banco Bradesco Company Profile

Banco Bradesco SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, corporates, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It provides current, savings, click, and salary accounts; real estate credit, vehicle financing, payroll loans, mortgage loans, microcredit, leasing, and personal and installment credit; overdraft and agribusiness loans; debit and business cards; financial and security services; consortium products; car, personal accident, dental, travel, and life insurance; investment products; pension products; foreign currency exchange services; capitalization bonds; and internet banking services.