First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Purchases New Shares in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,480 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank's stock worth $455,397,000 after purchasing an additional 625,797 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,793,309 shares of the bank's stock worth $432,823,000 after buying an additional 114,909 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank's stock valued at $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,453,718 shares of the bank's stock valued at $312,054,000 after buying an additional 50,287 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $100.44. 1,714,682 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 557,413. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The firm has a market cap of $73.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $97.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 65.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BMO. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.00.

About Bank of Montreal

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.