Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in M&T Bank by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 173,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,543,000 after buying an additional 22,637 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in M&T Bank in the fourth quarter worth $1,745,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in M&T Bank by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in M&T Bank by 281.1% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in M&T Bank by 246.1% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 2,407 shares in the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

M&T Bank Price Performance

MTB opened at $197.61 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $32.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $196.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.49. M&T Bank Co. has a 52-week low of $130.84 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) 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 prior year, the company posted $2.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.56 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other M&T Bank news, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total transaction of $468,210.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,875.75. This trade represents a 29.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total transaction of $537,566.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold 24,611 shares of company stock worth $5,354,777 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MTB. Compass Point increased their price objective on M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $190.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup cut shares of M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.