Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by FineMark National Bank & Trust

FineMark National Bank & Trust decreased its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 63.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,240 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,681 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $314,000 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 708,767 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,786,000 after purchasing an additional 40,135 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,913,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $185,694,000 after buying an additional 64,799 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at $346,000. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $327,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $97.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.71.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BMO. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.40.

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.