Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Insider Sells C$1,223,250.00 in Stock

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) insider Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$244.65, for a total transaction of C$1,223,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$430,094.70. This represents a 73.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

Mona Elizabeth Malone also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 24th, Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 4,517 shares of Bank of Montreal stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$244.61, for a total value of C$1,104,903.37.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO traded up C$2.00 on Thursday, hitting C$247.53. 765,389 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,548,222. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$219.92 and its 200-day moving average is C$199.45. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of C$146.40 and a 12 month high of C$248.69. The company has a market cap of C$174.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.26.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported C$3.67 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$9.57 billion during the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 12.63%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on BMO shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$240.00 to C$242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. TD boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$223.00 to C$236.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Desjardins boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$212.00 to C$230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$226.00 to C$244.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$224.54.

About Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal is a diversified financial-services provider based in North America, operating four business segments: Canadian personal and commercial banking, U.S. P&C banking, wealth management, and capital markets.