2,095 Shares in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Purchased by Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,095 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 708,767 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,786,000 after buying an additional 40,135 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,913,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $185,694,000 after acquiring an additional 64,799 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the bank’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $346,000. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth about $327,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $95.26 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $69.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $99.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.80.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.09%.

Bank of Montreal Profile

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.