Traynor Capital Management Inc. Sells 546 Shares of Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,739 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 546 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Rio Tinto Group by 10.9% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,732 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 18.3% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 721,662 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $45,926,000 after buying an additional 111,623 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,464,344 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $284,111,000 after buying an additional 118,706 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 369,931 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $23,542,000 after buying an additional 14,083 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 16.7% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 404,189 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,723,000 after buying an additional 57,818 shares during the period. 19.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Liberum Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Friday, January 12th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Rio Tinto Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rio Tinto Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Rio Tinto Group Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:RIO traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $63.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,254,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,018,145. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.10 and a 200-day moving average of $66.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.69. Rio Tinto Group has a fifty-two week low of $58.27 and a fifty-two week high of $75.09.

Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $2.58 per share. This is a positive change from Rio Tinto Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 6.6%.

About Rio Tinto Group

Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company operates through Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper, and Minerals Segments. The Iron Ore segment engages in the iron ore mining, and salt and gypsum production in Western Australia. The Aluminum segment is involved in bauxite mining; alumina refining; and aluminium smelting.