JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 144,252 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,327,465 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 144,252 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.46% of Bank of Montreal worth $300,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,821 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,130,000 after purchasing an additional 307,466 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BMO traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $96.88. The stock had a trading volume of 251,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,492. The company has a market cap of $70.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.10. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $104.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.29 and a 200 day moving average of $89.42.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $133.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal 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. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.40.

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.