JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Has $651.25 Million Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,711,773 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 426,442 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal comprises 3.8% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned 0.92% of Bank of Montreal worth $651,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,014,633,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank's stock valued at $664,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044,862 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1,527.7% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank's stock valued at $112,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,199 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,297,626 shares of the bank's stock worth $422,450,000 after purchasing an additional 975,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,616,614 shares of the bank's stock valued at $642,016,000 after purchasing an additional 704,197 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BMO shares. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE BMO opened at $99.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.67.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.35%.

Bank of Montreal 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.

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