Barclays PLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Barclays PLC lessened its holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 321,017 shares of the bank's stock after selling 125,423 shares during the period. Barclays PLC's holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank's stock worth $174,930,000 after buying an additional 346,390 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank's stock worth $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd now owns 9,765,549 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,437,000 after purchasing an additional 643,532 shares during the period. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda now owns 2,540,200 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,200 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 487,867 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of ITUB stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $6.29. 4,074,879 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,422,469. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market cap of $67.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.76. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $4.42 and a fifty-two week high of $6.37. The stock's 50 day moving average is $5.61 and its 200-day moving average is $5.28.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. Analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.0024 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Itaú Unibanco's payout ratio is 2.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ITUB. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. HSBC raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $6.18 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $6.27.

About Itaú Unibanco

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA offers a range of financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Activities with the Market + Corporation. It offers current account; loans; credit and debit cards; investment and commercial banking services; real estate lending services; financing and investment services; economic, financial and brokerage advisory; and leasing and foreign exchange services.