Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,923 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 760 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,709,247 shares of the bank’s stock worth $166,985,000 after purchasing an additional 12,926 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 52.6% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 37,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 128,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,597,000 after purchasing an additional 20,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $93.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $68.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $74.48 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.63 and a 200-day moving average of $88.05.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 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, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.