MML Investors Services LLC Has $3.24 Million Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 293.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,361 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 24,874 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $3,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,494,749 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,960,491,000 after buying an additional 576,744 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,615,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,709,215,000 after purchasing an additional 486,984 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,014,633,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,616,614 shares of the bank's stock worth $642,016,000 after purchasing an additional 704,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,208,431 shares of the bank's stock worth $505,643,000 after purchasing an additional 161,710 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BMO stock traded up $1.36 on Friday, reaching $97.68. 146,444 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 696,130. The business's 50 day moving average price is $95.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.44. The company has a market capitalization of $70.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. 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 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given 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 4.54%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 57.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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 lowered Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.