Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 318,022 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,207,553 shares of the bank's stock after selling 318,022 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.30% of Bank of Montreal worth $214,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.5% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the bank's stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank's stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 326,510 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,773,000 after acquiring an additional 5,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.5% in 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 institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $93.39. 439,280 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 864,173. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $96.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.26. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BMO shares. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. CIBC cut Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $128.40.

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.