Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 380,900 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 61,076 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.05% of Bank of Montreal worth $36,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,014,633,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,634,988 shares of the bank's stock valued at $352,776,000 after acquiring an additional 307,523 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 478,191 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,399,000 after acquiring an additional 12,052 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 1,114,100 shares of the bank's stock worth $108,087,000 after acquiring an additional 466,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BMO. Cibc World Mkts upgraded 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 increased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 7.1 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded down $6.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.27. 1,636,526 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 855,556. The stock has a market cap of $64.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $98.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its earnings results 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. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

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.