Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Takes Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,300 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $611,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth about $45,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank's stock worth $300,137,000 after buying an additional 144,252 shares during the period. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 473.7% in the fourth quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 1,595 shares of the bank's stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the period. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 10,780 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $99.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $72.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $95.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is presently 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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