William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 76,502 Shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. $BBVA

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,322 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 76,502 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria were worth $2,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBVA. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,304 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 183.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 187.3% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,557 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. 2.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Barclays downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Stock Performance

Shares of BBVA opened at $23.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.60. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $14.63 and a fifty-two week high of $26.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.81.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $12.33 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.7084 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 626.0%. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.81%.

About Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) is a Spanish multinational financial services group headquartered in Bilbao, Spain. The bank traces its roots to several historic regional banks and was formed through a series of mergers that consolidated its position as one of Spain’s largest banking groups. BBVA operates as a universal bank offering a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional clients.

BBVA’s core businesses include retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, private banking and wealth management, asset management, and insurance.