Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 30,392 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,465,507 shares of the bank's stock after selling 30,392 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Bank of Montreal worth $143,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,640 shares of the bank's stock worth $752,000 after buying an additional 2,897 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,616,614 shares of the bank's stock valued at $642,016,000 after acquiring an additional 704,197 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 77.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,443 shares of the bank's stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 3,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 380,900 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,959,000 after purchasing an additional 61,076 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Down 7.1 %

BMO traded down $6.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.27. 1,636,526 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 855,556. 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 company 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. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $98.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.15. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Bank of Montreal's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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.