Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO - Get Free Report) NYSE: BMO shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$125.42 and traded as high as C$143.78. Bank of Montreal shares last traded at C$143.32, with a volume of 1,560,077 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from C$134.00 to C$150.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$114.00 to C$131.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from C$133.00 to C$161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$135.92.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of C$104.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$137.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$125.55.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$140.79, for a total transaction of C$1,601,592.91. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal is a diversified financial-services provider based in North America, operating four business segments: Canadian personal and commercial banking, U.S. P&C banking, wealth management, and capital markets.