Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 5,555,624 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,979,795 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 5,555,624 shares during the period. UBS Group comprises approximately 1.2% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 1.09% of UBS Group worth $1,070,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in UBS Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,594,066,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in UBS Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $233,591,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 609.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,375,839 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,890,000 after purchasing an additional 3,759,134 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of UBS Group by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,349,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,771,713,000 after buying an additional 3,289,387 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UBS Group by 422.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,036,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,399,000 after buying an additional 3,264,214 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lowered UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

UBS stock opened at $31.92 on Friday. UBS Group AG has a 1-year low of $26.01 and a 1-year 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. The firm has a market cap of $102.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.21.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released 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). UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders 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 is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.