Moran Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Moran Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 491,187 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,220 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $14,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 117,613 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,528 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in UBS Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 11,247 shares of the bank’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in UBS Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,278 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased 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 valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on UBS. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Price Performance

UBS stock opened at $34.15 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.01. The stock has a market cap of $109.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 1.15. UBS Group AG has a one year low of $26.01 and a one year high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.08%.

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.