Essex Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Essex Financial Services Inc. trimmed its position in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,413 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hedeker Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 3,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in M&T Bank by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in M&T Bank by 1.0% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in M&T Bank by 1.9% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 2,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other M&T Bank news, Director John P. Barnes sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.45, for a total transaction of $4,349,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,715,126. The trade was a 36.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total transaction of $537,566.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,546,856.81. This represents a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,611 shares of company stock valued at $5,354,777 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $223.50 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on M&T Bank from $216.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on M&T Bank from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.68.

M&T Bank Stock Up 0.8 %

MTB stock opened at $199.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $196.74 and a 200-day moving average of $188.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.93. M&T Bank Co. has a one year low of $130.84 and a one year high of $225.70.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.56 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

About M&T Bank

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.