Entropy Technologies LP Has $682,000 Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Entropy Technologies LP decreased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 76.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,030 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,744 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,397,000 after buying an additional 625,797 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,793,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $432,823,000 after buying an additional 114,909 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,453,718 shares of the bank’s stock worth $312,054,000 after acquiring an additional 50,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $99.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.44 and a 200-day moving average of $92.27. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $104.63. 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 63.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.00.

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.