Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 7,046 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 287,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,046 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 0.7% of Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% during the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 37,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 9,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

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

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. 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. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of 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 research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.