Gradient Investments LLC Sells 144 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Gradient Investments LLC reduced its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO – Get Rating) (TSE:BMO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,357 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smith Moore & CO. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 45.9% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 2,758 shares of the bank’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter worth about $603,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 843,729 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,944,000 after buying an additional 44,277 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,927 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 4,461,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $394,057,000 after buying an additional 1,225,389 shares in the last quarter. 42.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$151.00 to C$147.50 in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Bank of America cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Monday, December 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of BMO opened at $85.25 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $81.57 and a 52 week high of $122.77. The firm has a market cap of $60.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th will be paid a $1.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $4.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 34.34%.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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Bank of Montreal engages in the provision of banking and financial services to individuals and institutions. It operates through the following segments: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking (Canadian P&C) and United States Personal and Commercial Banking (U.S. P&C). The Canadian P&C segment refers to retail banking and financial operations in Canada.