Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 438,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,376 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $82,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTB. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in M&T Bank during the third quarter worth about $230,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in M&T Bank by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 8,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,580,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in M&T Bank by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 29,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,182,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in M&T Bank by 3.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of M&T Bank during the third quarter worth approximately $9,151,000. 84.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at M&T Bank

In other M&T Bank news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total value of $299,526.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,751 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on M&T Bank from $269.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson raised their price target on M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, M&T Bank currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.79.

M&T Bank Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of M&T Bank stock opened at $178.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. M&T Bank Co. has a 12-month low of $133.03 and a 12-month high of $225.70. The company has a market cap of $29.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.90.

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

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

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

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

M&T Bank Company Profile

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.