Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Oarsman Capital Inc.

Oarsman Capital Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 47.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at approximately $357,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 9.6% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.4% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 146,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,190,000 after buying an additional 3,496 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 80.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,344,000 after acquiring an additional 55,823 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $89.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $64.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.21. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 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, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.09%.

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.