Trust Co. of Vermont Trims Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Trust Co. of Vermont trimmed its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 75.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 901 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,717 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $87,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 80.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,344,000 after acquiring an additional 55,823 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 588,209 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,082,000 after purchasing an additional 248,098 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $300,137,000 after purchasing an additional 144,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,298,627 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,326,000 after purchasing an additional 60,155 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $98.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.72. The company has a market cap of $72.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 65.62%.

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.