Viking Fund Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Viking Fund Management LLC trimmed its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,000 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 1.4% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.24. The company had a trading volume of 22,035,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,800,457. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.97. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $40.34. The firm has a market cap of $306.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC reissued 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.79.

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.