Pictet North America Advisors SA Lowers Position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Pictet North America Advisors SA lessened its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 382,355 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 190,000 shares during the quarter. UBS Group accounts for approximately 1.1% of Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $11,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 206,803 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,270,000 after purchasing an additional 29,367 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 106,019 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 37,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 6,638 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 33,089 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UBS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UBS Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

UBS Group Stock Up 1.3 %

UBS stock opened at $33.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $107.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.59 and a 200 day moving average of $31.47. UBS Group AG has a twelve month low of $26.00 and a twelve month high of $35.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.13%.

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.