Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 53.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 4.0% in the third 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 buying an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 2.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $676,264,000 after buying an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 15,857,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $696,940,000 after acquiring an additional 285,117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.4 %

BAC stock opened at $46.98 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.12. The company has a market capitalization of $360.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $32.49 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

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.