183,111,351 Shares in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 183,111,351 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,594,066,000. UBS Group makes up about 0.7% of Norges Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Norges Bank owned about 0.06% of UBS Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors 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. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in UBS Group during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

UBS Group Stock Down 1.4 %

UBS Group stock opened at $33.22 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.21. The stock has a market cap of $106.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 1.15. UBS Group AG has a 52 week low of $26.01 and a 52 week high of $35.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. UBS Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, analysts expect that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given 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 yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s payout ratio is 14.47%.

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.