Private Management Group Inc. Lowers Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Private Management Group Inc. cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 35.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,750 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 98.1% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 192.3% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Ocean LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BAC traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.32. The company had a trading volume of 28,103,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,516,668. The firm has a market cap of $302.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $38.50.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

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.