Wells Fargo & Company MN Trims Position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 816,562 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 21,318 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $24,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UBS. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 3rd quarter worth $243,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in UBS Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 12,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in UBS Group by 30.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,515 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 8,069 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in UBS Group during the third quarter worth about $365,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 104,417 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,228,000 after purchasing an additional 28,000 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UBS has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UBS Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of UBS stock opened at $28.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 1.16. UBS Group AG has a fifty-two week low of $25.75 and a fifty-two week high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.10.

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

UBS Group Increases Dividend

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