Portolan Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 321,566 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $9,750,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of UBS. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in UBS Group during the 3rd quarter worth $243,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of UBS Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 12,813 shares of the bank's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UBS Group by 30.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,515 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,098,000 after buying an additional 8,069 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the third quarter worth approximately $365,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in UBS Group by 36.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 104,417 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,228,000 after acquiring an additional 28,000 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UBS shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of UBS Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America downgraded UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of UBS stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.96. 3,102,303 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,274,366. 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's 50 day moving average is $31.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.00. The company has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.16. UBS Group AG has a 1 year low of $25.75 and a 1 year high of $35.84.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.08). UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from UBS Group's previous annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group's payout ratio is presently 14.47%.

UBS Group 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.