First Trust Advisors LP Sells 59,750 Shares of Bank Of Montreal $BMO

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 13.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 370,818 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 59,750 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.05% of Bank Of Montreal worth $41,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 3.5% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 4.5% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 3.7% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 4.5% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,091 shares of the bank’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank Of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $126.45 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.81. Bank Of Montreal has a 12-month low of $85.40 and a 12-month high of $131.36. The firm has a market cap of $89.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 11.13%.Bank Of Montreal’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BMO. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Bank Of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $168.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, CIBC upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.00.

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.