Bank of America Corp DE Sells 120,574 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 604,280 shares of the company's stock after selling 120,574 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.42% of Service Co. International worth $48,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 359.8% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 469 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $4,228,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total value of $410,076.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,336,651.72. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,153,461 over the last quarter. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SCI shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Service Co. International stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.35. 55,068 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,058,992. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.21. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $68.51 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Service Co. International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.16%.

About Service Co. International

Service Corp. International engages in the provision of funeral goods and services. It operates through the Funeral and Cemetery segments. The Funeral segment offers services related to cremations, including the use of home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, memorialization, and catering.