Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Dana Investment Advisors Inc.

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,208 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at $936,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 59,465 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $1,548,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 11,345.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 13,047 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BMO. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” 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 note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO stock opened at $98.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.40. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. The firm has a market cap of $71.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued 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 net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS 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 issued 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 4.52%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.