Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,302 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in M&T Bank by 13.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,349,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,199,675,000 after buying an additional 1,508,846 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in M&T Bank by 6.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,773,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,725,000 after acquiring an additional 527,854 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of M&T Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,422,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in M&T Bank by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,037,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $897,216,000 after purchasing an additional 190,837 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in M&T Bank by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 599,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,871,000 after buying an additional 141,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up previously from $233.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup cut shares of M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on M&T Bank from $188.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert E. Sadler, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $396,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,899,608. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Barnes sold 20,000 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.45, for a total value of $4,349,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,715,126. This trade represents a 36.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,487 shares of company stock worth $8,578,809. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MTB opened at $201.10 on Tuesday. M&T Bank Co. has a 12 month low of $128.31 and a 12 month high of $225.70. The company has a market capitalization of $33.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 19.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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

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: Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate, Discretionary Portfolio, Residential Mortgage Banking, and Retail Banking.