Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $156.10 Million Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,608,452 shares of the bank's stock after selling 23,166 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.22% of Bank of Montreal worth $156,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,494,749 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,960,491,000 after acquiring an additional 576,744 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,615,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,709,215,000 after purchasing an additional 486,984 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $1,014,633,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,616,614 shares of the bank's stock valued at $642,016,000 after buying an additional 704,197 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO stock traded down $3.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $88.39. 358,083 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 862,053. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. 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 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $97.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.18.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BMO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.40.

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.