Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 24.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 372,488 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 122,566 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in BCE were worth $8,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in BCE by 48.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of BCE by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 66.4% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,320,000 after acquiring an additional 543,320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $23.37. 1,939,069 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,281,112. The stock has a market cap of $21.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 194.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.56. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $36.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.92%. BCE's payout ratio is 2,283.33%.

BCE Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.