Northern Trust Corp Has $52.19 Million Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 74.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 537,809 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 228,983 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Bank of Montreal worth $52,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank's stock valued at $664,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,862 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 52,159 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,062,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the bank's stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the period. Finally, Spartan Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $1,378,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BMO stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 386,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,641. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.67. The company has a market cap of $72.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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