Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 19,653,417 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 66.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,919,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,653,417 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $435,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 3.1 %

Bank of America stock opened at $41.24 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $34.15 and a one year high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $313.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. 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 50-day moving average of $44.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.89.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BAC. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.45.

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.