Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Reduces Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,119,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 103,189 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.22% of Bank of America worth $649,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rossmore Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 26,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% in the first quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in Bank of America by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 58,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Ocean LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.99. 5,289,827 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,564,906. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.17. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $41.20. The company has a market cap of $320.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.35.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.91.

About Bank of America

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.