Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 39.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,884 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,221 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BMO. Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,094,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,178,000 after acquiring an additional 288,529 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank Of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,353,000. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Bank Of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 50,178 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,709 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BMO shares. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Bank Of Montreal from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.50.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $112.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $80.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $110.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.68. Bank Of Montreal has a 12-month low of $80.97 and a 12-month high of $115.66.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Research analysts expect that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a $1.1801 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $4.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Bank Of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 62.13%.

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.