Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 10,039,061 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,211,535 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,039,061 shares during the quarter. UBS Group accounts for approximately 0.8% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $2,462,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UBS. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UBS Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,104,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in UBS Group by 2,927.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,578,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,751,000 after buying an additional 3,459,997 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in UBS Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in UBS Group by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,789,899 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,792,000 after acquiring an additional 457,273 shares during the last quarter.

UBS Group Stock Down 0.8 %

UBS Group stock opened at $30.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.30. 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 AG has a twelve month low of $26.01 and a twelve month high of $35.84. The company has a market capitalization of $97.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98 and a beta of 1.15.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). 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%. UBS Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s payout ratio is currently 14.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lowered UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.