UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 122,700 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,847 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $3,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in UBS Group by 41.6% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in UBS Group by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on UBS shares. StockNews.com lowered UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Kepler Capital Markets raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

NYSE UBS opened at $33.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $105.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.10. UBS Group AG has a 1-year low of $26.01 and a 1-year high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.08%.

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.