Certuity LLC Has $433,000 Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Certuity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,467 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at $760,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after purchasing an additional 625,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,130,000 after purchasing an additional 307,466 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BMO shares. 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 company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $98.66 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.36. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 63.32%.

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.