Cigna Investments Inc. New Sells 274 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Cigna Investments Inc. New cut its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,495 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 274 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 52.6% during the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 37,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,935 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.5% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the bank’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,022 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the first quarter worth about $542,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $91.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $66.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $88.95 and a 200 day moving average of $88.10. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $74.48 and a 52 week high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. Bank of Montreal’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank lowered Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays cut their target price on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Profile

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.