Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 307,466 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 0.46% of Bank of Montreal worth $303,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 692,049 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $613,138,000 after buying an additional 463,924 shares during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,705,000 after buying an additional 1,412,532 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 14.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after buying an additional 625,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 138.4% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $133.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BMO opened at $99.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.58. 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 company has a market capitalization of $72.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.10. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.34%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.