Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $914,000 Stock Position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 197.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,226 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 15,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,195,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 9,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 70 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 analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $223.50 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $216.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.68.

M&T Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MTB stock opened at $178.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $29.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.98. M&T Bank Co. has a 52 week low of $133.03 and a 52 week high of $225.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.97.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. M&T Bank had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 10.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

M&T Bank Profile

M&T Bank Corp. operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking, trust, wealth management and investment services. It operates through the following segments: Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate, Discretionary Portfolio, Residential Mortgage Banking, and Retail Banking.