Voloridge Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 656,919 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 84,553 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Bank of Montreal worth $63,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BMO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $1,014,633,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $664,742,000 after buying an additional 2,044,862 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1,527.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,626,000 after buying an additional 1,089,199 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,833,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,244,284,000 after buying an additional 1,020,712 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,297,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,450,000 after purchasing an additional 975,777 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE BMO opened at $103.53 on Wednesday. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “sector perform” rating for the company. CIBC downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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.