Pacifica Partners Inc. Sells 320 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Pacifica Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,660 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 29,367 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.1% in the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,411,695 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,371,000 after buying an additional 14,809 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 80.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,344,000 after acquiring an additional 55,823 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 72.9% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 588,209 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,082,000 after acquiring an additional 248,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank’s stock worth $300,137,000 after acquiring an additional 144,252 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.9 %

BMO stock opened at $97.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $96.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.44. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 63.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.