Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 975,777 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,297,626 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 975,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 0.59% of Bank of Montreal worth $422,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BMO. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 334,333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,416,000 after purchasing an additional 7,823 shares during the last quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 137.2% during the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 30,900 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,999,000 after purchasing an additional 17,875 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 162,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,768,000 after purchasing an additional 36,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 153,570 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,893,000 after buying an additional 10,024 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BMO. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $89.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $98.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.15. The stock has a market cap of $64.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

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.