Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 2,616,297 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 94.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,616,297 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $173,168,000 after buying an additional 173,021 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.5% in 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 buying an additional 10,377 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 43.0% in the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $152,006,000 after buying an additional 38,258 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.64.

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Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %

Bank of America stock opened at $39.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $301.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

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.

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