Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 47.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 90,380 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Bank of America by 2.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,648,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,852,222,000 after buying an additional 1,397,469 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Bank of America by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,408,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,056 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 97.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,649,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,267,666,000 after buying an additional 5,484,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 22,538,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $758,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BAC traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $38.50. 27,588,950 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,906,422. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $38.79. The stock's 50 day moving average is $36.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.66.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Bank of America from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Odeon Capital Group cut Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.90 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.70.

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.