Allstate Corp Decreases Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Allstate Corp cut its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,318 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Banco de Sabadell S.A boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 79,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,673,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $95,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 20,510,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $690,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,764 shares during the period. Barry Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares during the period. Finally, Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $985,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.41. 16,114,493 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,207,570. The stock has a market capitalization of $308.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.23. 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 one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $39.84.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during 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%. Bank of America’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.70.

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.