Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Purchased by JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd

JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 473.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,595 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.8% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $613,138,000 after purchasing an additional 463,924 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% in the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 625,797 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,816,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.8 %

Bank of Montreal stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $96.65. The stock had a trading volume of 141,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,888. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.25. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $70.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. This is a positive change 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 yield of 4.69%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.00.

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.