Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stock Holdings Lessened by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 173,000 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,600 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $16,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 80.0% in 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. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 72.9% in 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake 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 valued at $300,137,000 after acquiring an additional 144,252 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,298,627 shares of the bank's stock worth $117,326,000 after purchasing an additional 60,155 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 90,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,239. The company has a market cap of $73.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $104.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.57.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. This is a boost 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 presently 65.62%.

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.