Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,674 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 988 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 708,767 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,786,000 after buying an additional 40,135 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,913,716 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $185,694,000 after acquiring an additional 64,799 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,000. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 1.2 %

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $96.70 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $99.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.40.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Bank of Montreal’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 57.09%.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through Canadian P&C, U.S P&C, BMO Wealth Management, and BMO Capital Markets segments. The company’s personal banking products and services include deposits, mortgages, home lending, consumer credit, small business lending, credit cards, cash management, financial and investment advice, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services comprise various of financing options and treasury and payment solutions, as well as risk management products.