Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 42,654 Shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 425,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,654 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $79,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MTB. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $2,199,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,846 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,773,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,562,725,000 after purchasing an additional 527,854 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in M&T Bank by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,037,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $897,216,000 after purchasing an additional 190,837 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in M&T Bank by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,329,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,824,000 after buying an additional 66,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC increased its position in M&T Bank by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 882,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,252,000 after buying an additional 96,500 shares during the period. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTB has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on M&T Bank from $216.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $223.50 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target 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, Citigroup downgraded M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other M&T Bank news, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total value of $468,210.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,875.75. The trade was a 29.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total transaction of $537,566.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,546,856.81. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,397 shares of company stock valued at $6,379,459. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

M&T Bank Stock Down 0.7 %

MTB opened at $200.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.04. M&T Bank Co. has a twelve month low of $129.36 and a twelve month high of $225.70.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business earned $2.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board 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.