Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.96 Billion Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,494,749 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 576,744 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 4.18% of Bank of Montreal worth $2,960,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 276.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 324,268 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,470,000 after purchasing an additional 238,193 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $37,129,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2,162.1% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 415,034 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,247,000 after buying an additional 396,687 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 194,218 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,855,000 after buying an additional 14,351 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,211,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock traded down $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.26. 588,322 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 851,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.97.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BMO. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.