Wealth Alliance Takes $777,000 Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Wealth Alliance bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,004 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $100.91 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.