Ieq Capital LLC Buys 1,453 Shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $2,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTB. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in M&T Bank by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in M&T Bank by 89.8% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 2,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new position in M&T Bank in the fourth quarter worth $290,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in M&T Bank by 1.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at M&T Bank

In other M&T Bank news, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total transaction of $468,210.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,875.75. This represents a 29.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total value of $537,566.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,546,856.81. The trade was a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on M&T Bank from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.68.

M&T Bank Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of MTB opened at $193.48 on Monday. M&T Bank Co. has a 1 year low of $133.03 and a 1 year high of $225.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.29. The firm has a market cap of $31.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.79.

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

M&T Bank declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

About M&T Bank

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.