Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC Trims Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC reduced its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,009,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 137,777 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 15.4% of Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $44,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,499,000 after buying an additional 601,211 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 0.4% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,264,000 after buying an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 15,857,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $696,940,000 after buying an additional 285,117 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.1 %

BAC opened at $44.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $343.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $33.37 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.37.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.