Cooke & Bieler LP Reduces Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cooke & Bieler LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,549,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,979 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $68,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 500,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,988,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Bank of America by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 7,434,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,732,000 after acquiring an additional 20,835 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,040,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,746,000 after acquiring an additional 33,693 shares during the period. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group grew its stake in Bank of America by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 10,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 4,566 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $39.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.76. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $34.15 and a twelve month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Company 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.