Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 1,234,557 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 84.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,234,557 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $173,168,000 after acquiring an additional 173,021 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,150,000 after purchasing an additional 10,377 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,886,769,000 after buying an additional 297,858 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.25.

Bank of America Trading Up 2.3 %

BAC stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.08. 41,601,768 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,257,039. 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 50-day moving average of $40.01 and a 200-day moving average of $43.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $312.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.