Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 927,567 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,774,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 927,567 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises about 0.9% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $121,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $44.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $336.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $33.07 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.56.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. 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.