Wedbush Securities Inc. Cuts Stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its holdings in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MTB. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in M&T Bank during the third quarter valued at about $1,148,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in M&T Bank by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in M&T Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $332,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in M&T Bank by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 50,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,883 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in M&T Bank by 11.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 578,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,999,000 after purchasing an additional 61,375 shares during the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other M&T Bank news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total value of $299,526.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,827.34. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTB has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Compass Point boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on M&T Bank from $269.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, M&T Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.97.

M&T Bank Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:MTB opened at $155.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.99. M&T Bank Co. has a one year low of $127.15 and a one year high of $225.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.22.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. M&T Bank had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 19.24%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.74 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

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: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, Institutional Services and Wealth Management, and All Other.