Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 45,797 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,314,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,797 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $145,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,648,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397,469 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,538,000 after acquiring an additional 20,362,295 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,518,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,109,383,000 after acquiring an additional 746,756 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 22,538,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $758,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 28.7% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 19,430,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,997,000 after acquiring an additional 4,335,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.2 %

BAC traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.83. The company had a trading volume of 28,668,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,953,860. The company has a market capitalization of $298.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $38.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.53.

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.