Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 269 Shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC acquired a new position in shares of M&T Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in M&T Bank during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 6,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 17,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total transaction of $299,526.92. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Stock Performance

MTB stock opened at $179.93 on Thursday. M&T Bank Co. has a twelve month low of $133.03 and a twelve month high of $225.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $188.33 and its 200-day moving average is $192.86.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 EPS for the current year.

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

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MTB. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup reduced their target price on M&T Bank from $230.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on M&T Bank from $234.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on M&T Bank from $269.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, M&T Bank has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.79.

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