Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 1,288 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,407 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,288 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 118.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded UBS Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Societe Generale upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

UBS Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UBS opened at $28.73 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.08. UBS Group AG has a 1-year low of $18.71 and a 1-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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The bank reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.18). UBS Group had a net margin of 43.70% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The business had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 1.11 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.228 per share. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.18. This represents a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.00%.

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.