3,553 Shares in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Purchased by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,553 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 6,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 4,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $99.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.44 and a 200-day moving average of $92.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 63.18%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.