LPL Financial LLC Purchases 80,747 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 373,234 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 80,747 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in Itaú Unibanco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,215,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,522,486 shares of the bank's stock valued at $83,899,000 after buying an additional 861,500 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank's stock worth $338,016,000 after buying an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the bank's stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 4,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank's stock valued at $174,930,000 after acquiring an additional 346,390 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ITUB shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $6.18 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

NYSE ITUB traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $5.66. 21,231,513 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,937,333. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.25, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. The business's fifty day moving average is $5.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.34. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.42 and a 12 month high of $6.30.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.0527 dividend. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco's previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.82%.

Itaú Unibanco Profile

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA offers a range of financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Activities with the Market + Corporation. It offers current account; loans; credit and debit cards; investment and commercial banking services; real estate lending services; financing and investment services; economic, financial and brokerage advisory; and leasing and foreign exchange services.