Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 464,910 Shares of Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD) by 77.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,435 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 464,910 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Banco Bradesco were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 170.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 87,965,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,988,000 after acquiring an additional 55,444,555 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 215.1% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 82,839,944 shares of the bank’s stock worth $158,224,000 after acquiring an additional 56,552,808 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 75,833,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $201,716,000 after acquiring an additional 12,228,662 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,046,779 shares of the bank’s stock worth $125,144,000 after acquiring an additional 6,171,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,989,586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,470 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BBD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Bradesco from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $2.40 to $2.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Banco Bradesco from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Banco Bradesco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $2.80 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Banco Bradesco Trading Up 5.1 %

NYSE:BBD opened at $2.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.94. Banco Bradesco S.A. has a 52 week low of $1.84 and a 52 week high of $2.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.29.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The bank reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09. Banco Bradesco had a net margin of 8.46% and a return on equity of 11.43%. On average, equities analysts expect that Banco Bradesco S.A. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bradesco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.0033 per share. This is an increase from Banco Bradesco’s previous monthly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Banco Bradesco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

About Banco Bradesco

Banco Bradesco SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, corporates, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It provides current, savings, click, and salary accounts; real estate credit, vehicle financing, payroll loans, mortgage loans, microcredit, leasing, and personal and installment credit; overdraft and agribusiness loans; debit and business cards; financial and security services; consortium products; car, personal accident, dental, travel, and life insurance; investment products; pension products; foreign currency exchange services; capitalization bonds; and internet banking services.