Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK - Free Report) by 89.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,296 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 6,262 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Bank of New York Mellon were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 3,317 shares of the bank's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,172 shares of the bank's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,432 shares of the bank's stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 34,536 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,653,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,041 shares of the bank's stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP J Kevin Mccarthy sold 30,000 shares of Bank of New York Mellon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.03, for a total transaction of $2,370,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,355,738.45. The trade was a 35.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Catherine Keating sold 65,473 shares of Bank of New York Mellon stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.31, for a total transaction of $5,061,717.63. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 87,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,767,872.02. This trade represents a 42.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,114 shares of company stock valued at $7,869,795 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Bank of New York Mellon Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:BK opened at $90.33 on Friday. The Bank of New York Mellon Co. has a 52-week low of $57.18 and a 52-week high of $90.63. The stock has a market cap of $64.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.62.

Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The bank reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.08. Bank of New York Mellon had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 12.68%. The company had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Bank of New York Mellon's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Bank of New York Mellon Co. will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Bank of New York Mellon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Bank of New York Mellon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BK. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Bank of New York Mellon from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Bank of New York Mellon in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of New York Mellon from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Bank of New York Mellon from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.85.

About Bank of New York Mellon

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation provides a range of financial products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Securities Services, Market and Wealth Services, Investment and Wealth Management, and other segments. The Securities Services segment offers custody, trust and depositary, accounting, exchange-traded funds, middle-office solutions, transfer agency, services for private equity and real estate funds, foreign exchange, securities lending, liquidity/lending services, and data analytics.

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