Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lessened its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 161,035 shares of the bank's stock after selling 16,959 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $15,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,191,193 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,294,121,000 after buying an additional 468,761 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,247,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,298 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.1% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 14,042,593 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,184,774,000 after purchasing an additional 679,340 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 0.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,757,010 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,102,086,000 after purchasing an additional 69,009 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,544,892 shares of the bank's stock valued at $864,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BMO. National Bank Financial raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BMO traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.37. 589,662 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 671,752. The company has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.13. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $73.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average is $94.19 and its 200-day moving average is $89.26.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This represents a $4.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.02%.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.