Kentucky Trust Co Takes Position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $92,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTB. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 2,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of M&T Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 329.2% during the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in M&T Bank by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in M&T Bank in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lowered shares of M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $230.00 in a 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 stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $188.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.68.

M&T Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MTB opened at $197.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.99. M&T Bank Co. has a one year low of $130.84 and a one year high of $225.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.79.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is 36.91%.

M&T Bank announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other 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 shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total transaction of $468,210.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,875.75. The trade was a 29.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,611 shares of company stock worth $5,354,777. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Company Profile

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.