JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stake in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,571 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.48% of Univest Financial worth $4,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Univest Financial during the third quarter worth about $79,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Univest Financial by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 14,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 7,024 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Univest Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $511,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Univest Financial by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 21,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. 75.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Univest Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Univest Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of UVSP stock opened at $27.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $790.01 million, a P/E ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.72. Univest Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.38 and a fifty-two week high of $32.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.41.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.08. Univest Financial had a return on equity of 8.51% and a net margin of 15.17%. Equities research analysts predict that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Univest Financial’s payout ratio is presently 32.43%.

Insider Transactions at Univest Financial

In other Univest Financial news, Director Anne Vazquez purchased 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.63 per share, with a total value of $35,787.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,937.50. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

About Univest Financial

Univest Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Univest Bank and Trust Co that provides banking products and services primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Insurance. The Banking segment offers a range of banking services, such as deposit taking, loan origination and servicing, mortgage banking, other general banking, and equipment lease financing services for individuals, businesses, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations.