Vest Financial LLC Sells 496,478 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Vest Financial LLC reduced its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 64.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 274,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 496,478 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $11,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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 raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Argus cut their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $45.01 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $33.07 and a 12-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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 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, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

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.

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