Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,064 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Bank of America by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733,810 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Bank of America by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493,817 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Bank of America by 193.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $46.25 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.78. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $32.35 and a one year high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $354.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

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.