Granite Group Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Granite Group Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 603 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank accounts for about 1.4% of Granite Group Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Granite Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $2,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 2,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 329.2% during the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Trading Up 0.9 %

MTB stock opened at $198.81 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.41. M&T Bank Co. has a 52 week low of $128.31 and a 52 week high of $225.70.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.56 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Insider Activity at M&T Bank

In other M&T Bank news, Director Robert E. Sadler, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $396,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,899,608. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,546,856.81. The trade was a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,487 shares of company stock worth $8,578,809. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MTB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Barclays upped their target price on M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson upped their target price on M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on M&T Bank from $188.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on M&T Bank from $190.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.68.

M&T Bank Company 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: Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate, Discretionary Portfolio, Residential Mortgage Banking, and Retail Banking.