Leuthold Group LLC Sells 969 Shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Leuthold Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 969 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $5,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in M&T Bank by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,473,000 after buying an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of M&T Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 89.8% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 2,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of M&T Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 1.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,466,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

M&T Bank Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE MTB opened at $193.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.87. M&T Bank Co. has a 52 week low of $133.03 and a 52 week high of $225.70. The company has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.79%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on MTB shares. Compass Point boosted their price objective on M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays boosted 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. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $216.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.68.

Insider Transactions at M&T Bank

In other news, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total transaction of $468,210.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,875.75. The trade was a 29.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the company’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.