LPL Financial LLC Buys 238,193 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 276.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 324,268 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 238,193 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $31,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position 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 period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,701,814 shares of the bank's stock valued at $358,991,000 after purchasing an additional 248,096 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 purchasing an additional 144,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank's stock worth $303,130,000 after acquiring an additional 307,466 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.2 %

BMO stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $95.48. The company had a trading volume of 535,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 850,590. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.30 and a 200-day moving average of $95.97. The stock has a market cap of $69.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 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.