Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Holdings in The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK) by 134.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,034 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of New York Mellon were worth $540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Bank of New York Mellon by 586.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Bank of New York Mellon by 130.6% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 611 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 644 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Bank of New York Mellon during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 85.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on BK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Bank of New York Mellon from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bank of New York Mellon from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of New York Mellon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

Bank of New York Mellon Price Performance

Shares of BK stock opened at $84.75 on Friday. The Bank of New York Mellon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.64 and a fifty-two week high of $85.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.82.

Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.18. Bank of New York Mellon had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Bank of New York Mellon’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Bank of New York Mellon Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of New York Mellon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Bank of New York Mellon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.36%.

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.