Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,215,628 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 1,630,962 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal comprises 1.5% of Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 1.68% of Bank of Montreal worth $1,184,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank's stock valued at $300,137,000 after buying an additional 144,252 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $434,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,020 shares of the bank's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 680 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:BMO traded up $0.57 on Thursday, hitting $106.86. 367,778 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 847,360. The company's 50-day moving average price is $96.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.64. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $108.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.84. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.79 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BMO. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "sector perform" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, CIBC reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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.