Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,037,237 UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,037,237 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $31,449,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UBS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,594,066,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of UBS Group by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,695,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,609,616 shares during the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter worth $233,591,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in 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 valued at $1,070,335,000 after buying an additional 5,555,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased 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 worth $133,890,000 after buying an additional 3,759,134 shares during the last quarter.

UBS Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:UBS traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.96. The stock had a trading volume of 3,102,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,275,673. 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 AG has a fifty-two week low of $25.75 and a fifty-two week high of $35.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.01.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

UBS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of UBS Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BNP Paribas raised shares of UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.