Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 2,248 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,631,618 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,248 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $147,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.9% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,231,564,000 after acquiring an additional 692,049 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $613,138,000 after purchasing an additional 463,924 shares during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.4% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $407,282,000 after buying an additional 2,816,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.5% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,453,718 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $312,054,000 after buying an additional 50,287 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $94.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $100.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.87 and a 200-day moving average of $88.25.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

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.