Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 129,006 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,284,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 129,006 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $144,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co boosted its stake in Bank of America by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $43.09 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $34.15 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.