Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock Position Lessened by Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,365 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 4.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,003 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,499,000 after purchasing an additional 601,211 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.74 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.83 and its 200-day moving average is $42.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $358.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.35 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

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.