Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 116.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,983 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $5,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in M&T Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of M&T Bank by 1.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,466,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 5.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 331,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,267,000 after purchasing an additional 18,566 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in M&T Bank by 3.5% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 493,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,959,000 after buying an additional 16,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in M&T Bank by 60.0% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 32,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,964,000 after buying an additional 12,304 shares during the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised M&T Bank from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $183.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $170.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $188.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on M&T Bank from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $206.41.

M&T Bank Stock Performance

NYSE MTB opened at $220.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $36.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.74. M&T Bank Co. has a 1-year low of $123.46 and a 1-year high of $225.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $194.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.05.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.60 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. M&T Bank had a net margin of 17.82% and a return on equity of 9.52%. As a group, analysts anticipate that M&T Bank Co. will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is 39.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Denis J. Salamone sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.03, for a total transaction of $1,720,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 44,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,724,491.06. This represents a 18.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rene F. Jones sold 23,071 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.88, for a total transaction of $4,473,005.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,972,576.88. This represents a 23.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,383 shares of company stock worth $17,925,801 in the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About M&T Bank

M&T Bank Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company and Wilmington Trust, National Association that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, and Institutional Services and Wealth Management.