New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 120,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $22,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTB. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in M&T Bank by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new stake in M&T Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $663,000. Citizens & Northern Corp bought a new stake in M&T Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $523,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 38,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after acquiring an additional 10,438 shares during the period. Finally, Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of M&T Bank in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at M&T Bank

In related news, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total transaction of $537,566.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,546,856.81. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $468,210.75. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup downgraded M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $236.00 target price (up from $233.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.50 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.68.

M&T Bank Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of MTB stock opened at $193.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.93. M&T Bank Co. has a fifty-two week low of $133.03 and a fifty-two week high of $225.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.87.

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

M&T Bank announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 22nd that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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 given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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.