Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Hancock Whitney Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,575 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 43.0% in the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in Bank of America by 125.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in Bank of America by 173.7% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,150,000 after purchasing an additional 370,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Bank of America by 27.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $47.50 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $364.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.76.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total transaction of $322,390,566.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 882,723,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,847,417,700.83. This trade represents a 0.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 85,027,690 shares of company stock worth $3,435,115,636 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.