Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,902 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $36,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 8.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in M&T Bank by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 66,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,793,000 after purchasing an additional 6,552 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in M&T Bank by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in M&T Bank by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in M&T Bank by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

M&T Bank Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of MTB opened at $193.48 on Friday. The firm 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. M&T Bank Co. has a 1 year low of $133.03 and a 1 year high of $225.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.87. 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 (NYSE:MTB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 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 company posted $2.74 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MTB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up from $233.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup downgraded M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on M&T Bank from $205.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.68.

Insider Activity

In other M&T Bank news, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the business’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 value of $537,566.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,546,856.81. The trade was a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total value of $468,210.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,875.75. This trade represents a 29.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

M&T Bank 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.