Squarepoint Ops LLC Sells 44,908 Shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. $GGAL

Key Points

• Squarepoint Ops LLC cut its Grupo Financiero Galicia stake by 88.8%, selling 44,908 shares and retaining 5,692 shares worth approximately $285,000. Other institutions, including Carrhae Capital and RWC Asset Advisors, increased or initiated positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $68.33, with upgrades from JPMorgan and Wall Street Zen offset by downgrades from Itau BBA and Weiss Ratings.
• Grupo Financiero Galicia exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.14 in earnings per share versus a $0.98 estimate and $1.87 billion in revenue. Insiders bought 802,791 shares over the past three months, while the company announced a monthly dividend of $0.0479 per share.

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Free Report) by 88.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,692 shares of the bank's stock after selling 44,908 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC's holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GGAL. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia during the second quarter valued at approximately $68,052,000. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC boosted its holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 52.2% in the second quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 517,540 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,893,000 after purchasing an additional 177,574 shares during the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the second quarter worth $490,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 149,789 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,997,000 after purchasing an additional 15,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,531 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,080,000 after acquiring an additional 3,729 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Itau BBA Securities cut Grupo Financiero Galicia from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grupo Financiero Galicia news, Director Silvestre Moret purchased 224,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.36 per share, with a total value of $1,200,640.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $16,080,000. The trade was a 8.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders bought 802,791 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,109 in the last three months.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GGAL opened at $39.99 on Thursday. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $26.06 and a fifty-two week high of $62.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $45.44 and its 200 day moving average is $46.48.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 5th. Investors of record on Monday, September 28th will be given a dividend of $0.0479 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 28th. Grupo Financiero Galicia's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.67%.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Company Profile

Grupo Financiero Galicia SA is an Argentina-based financial services holding company whose principal operating subsidiary is Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SAU. The group provides banking and related financial products to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, corporate clients and agricultural customers in Argentina.

Through its banking operations, Grupo Financiero Galicia offers deposit accounts, personal and commercial loans, credit and debit cards, payment services, foreign trade financing, investment products and digital banking through online and mobile platforms.

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