NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 116,600.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,501 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 3,498 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,014,633,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank's stock valued at $664,742,000 after buying an additional 2,044,862 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after buying an additional 1,630,962 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1,527.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank's stock valued at $112,626,000 after buying an additional 1,089,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,833,065 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,244,284,000 after buying an additional 1,020,712 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

A number of research firms have commented on BMO. CIBC reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "sector perform" rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.50.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bank of Montreal

NYSE:BMO opened at $108.25 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $109.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $98.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.33. The company has a market capitalization of $78.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.08.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.84. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1801 per share. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.75%.

(Free Report)

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.

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