Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Buys 204 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,771 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $133.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Friday, December 6th. TD Securities downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 2.5 %

BMO stock opened at $95.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.67 and its 200-day moving average is $88.78.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

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.