Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 9,127 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 62.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,548 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,127 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $455,397,000 after acquiring an additional 625,797 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position 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 valued at $432,823,000 after acquiring an additional 114,909 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,701,814 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,991,000 after acquiring an additional 248,096 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO stock opened at $102.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.05. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The firm has a market cap of $74.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 56.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal 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.