Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,627,663 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,218 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $172,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter worth $5,594,066,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in UBS Group in the fourth quarter worth about $233,591,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in UBS Group by 18.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in UBS Group by 609.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,375,839 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,890,000 after purchasing an additional 3,759,134 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 2,927.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,578,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,459,997 shares in the last quarter.

UBS Group Stock Performance

NYSE UBS opened at $26.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.23. 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 fifty-two week low of $26.01 and a fifty-two week high of $35.84.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on UBS shares. StockNews.com downgraded UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UBS Group presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Company Profile

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.