Raymond James & Associates Sells 12,057 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,194 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,057 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 34.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.4 %

BMO opened at $90.78 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.09. The firm has a market cap of $66.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Scotiabank cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

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.