Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Decreases Stake in HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 678,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,951 shares during the quarter. HSBC comprises about 1.5% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in HSBC were worth $33,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HSBC. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in HSBC by 124.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 171,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,820,000 after acquiring an additional 94,991 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HSBC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $664,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in HSBC during the fourth quarter worth approximately $701,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in HSBC by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 141,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,979,000 after buying an additional 15,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HSBC in the 4th quarter worth $244,000. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on HSBC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of HSBC in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered HSBC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised HSBC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HSBC has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

HSBC Stock Performance

NYSE:HSBC opened at $60.27 on Wednesday. HSBC Holdings plc has a fifty-two week low of $36.93 and a fifty-two week high of $61.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.51.

HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.04. HSBC had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $11.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.79 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that HSBC Holdings plc will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

HSBC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.95%. HSBC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.81%.

HSBC Company Profile

HSBC Holdings plc provides banking and financial services worldwide. The company operates through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The Wealth and Personal Banking segment offers retail banking and wealth products, including current and savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans, credit and debit cards, and local and international payment services; and wealth management services comprising insurance and investment products, global asset management services, investment management, and private wealth solutions.