National Bank of Canada FI Sells 1,289,362 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,195,214 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,289,362 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal comprises 1.6% of National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. National Bank of Canada FI owned 1.41% of Bank of Montreal worth $998,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,247,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,298 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,495,589 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,435,002,000 after acquiring an additional 738,579 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.1% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 14,042,593 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,184,774,000 after acquiring an additional 679,340 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,191,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,294,121,000 after acquiring an additional 468,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,297,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,141,000 after acquiring an additional 301,391 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE BMO traded up $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $91.23. 486,885 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 933,216. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $66.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.45. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $73.98 and a one year high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.79%.

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.