Machina Capital S.A.S. Sells 22,583 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 40.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,583 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 0.7% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Bank of America by 1,071.8% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $474,150,000 after buying an additional 12,880,492 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at about $177,970,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 143.5% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,659,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,852,000 after acquiring an additional 6,281,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $168,610,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BAC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE BAC traded up $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.84. 28,846,904 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,520,785. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.23. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $38.49. The firm has a market cap of $295.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

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.