BDF Gestion Lowers Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

BDF Gestion lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 317,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 41,267 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up about 1.3% of BDF Gestion’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $13,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $596,000. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 19,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 4,520 shares during the period. Finally, Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 87,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.74 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $32.35 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.70. The firm 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.