Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 293,578 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,129,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 293,578 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $93,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $5,226,989,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 71,357.5% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,632,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,411,000 after buying an additional 8,620,699 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Bank of America by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after buying an additional 5,733,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Bank of America by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493,817 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Cfra Research lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.20.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $37.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $33.07 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.59.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 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.