Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 3,600 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,392,000 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal comprises about 0.9% of Alberta Investment Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned about 0.19% of Bank of Montreal worth $135,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $346,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 80.0% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $53,082,000 after acquiring an additional 248,098 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO traded down $0.40 on Friday, reaching $100.53. 1,096,213 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,262. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week 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 $73.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is currently 63.18%.

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.