Vest Financial LLC Acquires 22,637 Shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,637 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $32,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,349,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,199,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,846 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 527,854 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in M&T Bank during the third quarter worth about $44,422,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in M&T Bank by 3.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,037,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $897,216,000 after buying an additional 190,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in M&T Bank by 30.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 599,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,871,000 after buying an additional 141,337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on M&T Bank from $190.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.50 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on M&T Bank from $216.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 target price (up previously from $233.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.68.

Insider Activity

In other M&T Bank news, Director John P. Barnes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.45, for a total transaction of $4,349,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,715,126. This trade represents a 36.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total value of $537,566.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,546,856.81. This represents 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 have sold 29,397 shares of company stock valued at $6,379,459. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

M&T Bank Stock Performance

Shares of M&T Bank stock opened at $200.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 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. M&T Bank Co. has a twelve month low of $129.36 and a twelve month high of $225.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $197.49 and its 200 day moving average is $187.72.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share 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 previous year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.56 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.