UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Stock Position Reduced by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC decreased its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,954,907 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 177,881 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $120,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at $5,594,066,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $233,591,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in UBS Group by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,070,335,000 after acquiring an additional 5,555,624 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 609.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,375,839 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,759,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in UBS Group by 2,927.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,578,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,459,997 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UBS. StockNews.com cut UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of UBS stock opened at $26.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06. UBS Group AG has a 1 year low of $26.01 and a 1 year high of $35.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.23.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.08). UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s payout ratio is presently 14.47%.

About UBS Group

UBS Group AG provides financial advice and solutions to private, institutional, and corporate clients worldwide. It operates through five divisions: Global Wealth Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management, Investment Bank, and Non-core and Legacy. The company offers investment advice, estate and wealth planning, investing, corporate and banking, and investment management, as well as mortgage, securities-based, and structured lending solutions.