Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 334,333 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 7,823 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $32,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 140.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on 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, CIBC downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.40.

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Bank of Montreal Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE BMO traded down $2.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $88.92. 262,680 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,598. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $97.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.18. 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 has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

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.