Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management cut its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.3% in Q4, selling 61,797 shares and leaving it with 785,954 shares (about 0.06% of the company) valued at roughly $58.04 million.
• Other large investors shifted positions — Vanguard boosted its holding to 57.24 million shares (~$4.22 billion) and Canerector reported a massive increase to 26.997 million shares — with institutional investors now owning 49.13% of the stock.
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus is a "Hold" with an average price target of $106, while Scotiabank recently beat Q4 estimates (EPS $1.48 vs. $1.42; revenue $7.40B) and the stock trades near $76.67 with a $94.23 billion market cap.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 785,954 shares of the bank's stock after selling 61,797 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $58,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,237,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,221,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169,073 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,745,356,000 after buying an additional 26,697,000 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.3% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 18,364,021 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,187,709,000 after acquiring an additional 229,990 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 44.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,800,305 shares of the bank's stock valued at $635,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007,407 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.4% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,046,647 shares of the bank's stock worth $520,426,000 after acquiring an additional 410,786 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $76.67 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.47. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $49.06 and a fifty-two week high of $78.28. The firm has a market cap of $94.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 12.40%.The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada's largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank's core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.

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