Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 319 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,242 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $760,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,397,000 after purchasing an additional 625,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $303,130,000 after buying an additional 307,466 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $100.96 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 65.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Bank of Montreal

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.