UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Shares Bought by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its stake in UBS Group AG by 88.5% in the first quarter, owning 37,654,399 shares valued at approximately $1.15 billion.
• Several brokerages have recently upgraded their ratings on UBS Group, with DZ Bank moving it from "hold" to "strong buy".
• UBS Group reported earnings of $0.72 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and totaling revenue of $11.55 billion.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS - Free Report) by 88.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,654,399 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 17,676,829 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 1.17% of UBS Group worth $1,153,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of UBS Group by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 55,586,232 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,688,163,000 after buying an additional 4,207,140 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in UBS Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 35,428,808 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,075,976,000 after purchasing an additional 449,013 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in UBS Group by 162.6% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 28,307,335 shares of the bank's stock valued at $858,359,000 after acquiring an additional 17,525,749 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 27,013,906 shares of the bank's stock valued at $819,062,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,437 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of UBS Group by 4.3% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 17,146,184 shares of the bank's stock worth $521,098,000 after acquiring an additional 701,116 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UBS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of UBS Group in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded UBS Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised UBS Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UBS Group presently has an average rating of "Hold".

UBS Group Price Performance

UBS Group stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.54. 1,744,669 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,034,843. The company has a market capitalization of $126.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.89. UBS Group AG has a 1 year low of $25.75 and a 1 year high of $39.71.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The bank reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. UBS Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $11.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

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.