Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 23.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,600 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,400 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $1,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth about $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 34.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.3 %

BMO traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $94.92. The company had a trading volume of 445,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,498. The company's fifty day moving average price is $91.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.25. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $100.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $69.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a $1.123 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Bank of Montreal from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.