Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 1,327,829 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,101,280 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,327,829 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.20% of Valley National Bancorp worth $55,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VLY. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 384.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,970,862 shares of the company's stock worth $81,276,000 after buying an additional 7,118,044 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,501.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,676,685 shares of the company's stock worth $51,431,000 after acquiring an additional 5,322,278 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $19,399,000. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 416.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 852,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,727,000 after acquiring an additional 687,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $4,374,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VLY. Citigroup boosted their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $12.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.67.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of VLY traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.20. The stock had a trading volume of 6,637,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,700,441. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.46. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. Valley National Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 495,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. This trade represents a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments.