Marshall Wace LLP Invests $54.40 Million in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,781,263 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $54,397,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.06% of UBS Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in UBS Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in UBS Group by 30.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,515 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 8,069 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in UBS Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $365,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of UBS Group by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 104,417 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,228,000 after buying an additional 28,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $391,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UBS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley cut UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UBS Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Price Performance

UBS opened at $27.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.02. UBS Group AG has a one year low of $25.75 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 1.16.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.47%.

About UBS Group

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.