Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 349,525 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,790,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 349,525 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $150,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 193.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $174,858,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,966,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total transaction of $156,981,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 854,214,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,809,803,102.24. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 55,223,897 shares of company stock valued at $2,232,505,985 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.2 %

BAC stock opened at $45.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $352.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $31.27 and a one year high of $48.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.43.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.92.

Bank of America 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.