Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $6,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTB. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in M&T Bank by 13.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,349,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,199,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,846 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of M&T Bank by 6.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,773,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,725,000 after buying an additional 527,854 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of M&T Bank by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,289,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,522,000 after buying an additional 252,583 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of M&T Bank in the third quarter valued at about $44,422,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of M&T Bank by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 807,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,315,000 after buying an additional 244,709 shares during the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

M&T Bank Price Performance

Shares of MTB opened at $170.28 on Friday. M&T Bank Co. has a 1-year low of $133.03 and a 1-year high of $225.70. The stock has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.77. 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 (NYSE:MTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 EPS for the current year.

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

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MTB shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $269.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.03.

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.