Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,610 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,429 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,049 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $100.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.22. The company has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.1329 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.18%.

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.