Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 107 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,797 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BMO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $97.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $99.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.18.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

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.