Quantbot Technologies LP Cuts Stock Holdings in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its holdings in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 83.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,478 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 126,673 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at $19,026,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in UBS Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,302 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 17,556 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of UBS Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 78,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 4,178 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 19,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

UBS Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of UBS stock opened at $33.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company 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 1 year low of $26.01 and a 1 year high of $35.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.21.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. 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 (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.