Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $82.46 Million Position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 438,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,376 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.26% of M&T Bank worth $82,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,773,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,725,000 after buying an additional 527,854 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in M&T Bank by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,289,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $994,522,000 after buying an additional 252,583 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in M&T Bank by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,329,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,824,000 after buying an additional 66,337 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in M&T Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $317,690,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in M&T Bank by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 807,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,315,000 after acquiring an additional 244,709 shares in the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on M&T Bank from $205.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on M&T Bank from $230.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.79.

M&T Bank Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:MTB opened at $178.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $29.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. M&T Bank Co. has a 1 year low of $133.03 and a 1 year high of $225.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $189.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.90.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. M&T Bank had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 19.24%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 22nd that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total value of $299,526.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,827.34. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

About M&T Bank

M&T Bank Corp. operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking, trust, wealth management, and investment services. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, Institutional Services and Wealth Management, and All Other.