Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,433,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 329,924 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $143,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $45.02 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.07 and a one year high of $48.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.17 and its 200-day moving average is $43.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Bank of America Company 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.