Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 233,794 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,533,245 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 233,794 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $202,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of UBS Group by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,514 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UBS Group by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UBS Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,302 shares of the bank’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of UBS Group by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC increased its stake in shares of UBS Group by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 9,389 shares of the bank’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter.

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of UBS Group stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,800,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,443,492. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.28. UBS Group AG has a one year low of $18.71 and a one year high of $32.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.10.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The bank reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.18). UBS Group had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 43.70%. The business had revenue of $10.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.228 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. This is an increase from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.18. This represents a dividend yield of 0.82%. UBS Group’s payout ratio is 2.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of UBS Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of UBS Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Citigroup downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Societe Generale upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

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.