Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 189,221 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund reduced its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,175,163 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 189,221 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $98,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.4% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,020,683 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,588,000 after buying an additional 61,083 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 11.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,403,431 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,789,000 after buying an additional 69,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,220 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $91.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.34 and a 200-day moving average of $88.60. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 76.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal 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.