Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Lowers Stock Holdings in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its stake in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS - Free Report) by 33.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,145,219 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,024,527 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.19% of UBS Group worth $187,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter worth $5,594,066,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in UBS Group by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,695,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,609,616 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in UBS Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $233,591,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of UBS Group by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,070,335,000 after buying an additional 5,555,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,759,134 shares during the period.

UBS Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UBS traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.96. 3,102,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,275,673. UBS Group AG has a twelve month low of $25.75 and a twelve month 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.01. The stock has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.16.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The business's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. On average, 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 announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from UBS Group's previous annual dividend of $0.23. UBS Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UBS. StockNews.com lowered UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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 shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

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.