Sigma Planning Corp Lowers Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 104,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,975 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAC. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733,810 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,976,000 after purchasing an additional 5,493,817 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $174,858,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $44.80 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $343.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.37. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.37 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.