Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Lowers Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 66.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,919,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,653,417 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.13% of Bank of America worth $435,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in 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 valued at $173,168,000 after purchasing an additional 173,021 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased 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 valued at $89,150,000 after acquiring an additional 10,377 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,006,000 after acquiring an additional 38,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,886,769,000 after acquiring an additional 297,858 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $41.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $313.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $34.15 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BAC shares. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 note on Friday, January 17th. 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.45.

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.