The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK) Short Interest Up 21.7% in August

The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,480,000 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the August 15th total of 9,430,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Bank of New York Mellon from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Bank of New York Mellon in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Bank of New York Mellon from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup lowered Bank of New York Mellon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of New York Mellon currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.14.

Bank of New York Mellon Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BK traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.68. 1,323,345 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,799,010. The company has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Bank of New York Mellon has a one year low of $39.66 and a one year high of $70.92.

Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The bank reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Bank of New York Mellon had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 11.87%. Bank of New York Mellon’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bank of New York Mellon will post 5.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of New York Mellon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This is a boost from Bank of New York Mellon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Bank of New York Mellon’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Hanneke Smits sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total value of $961,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,652.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of New York Mellon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $813,701,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,501,451 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,877,801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293,751 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 99.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,631,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,583,000 after buying an additional 1,311,969 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Bank of New York Mellon by 217.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,528,492 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank of New York Mellon by 6,040.9% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,037,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,154,000 after buying an additional 1,020,906 shares during the period. 85.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.