Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management reduced its Itau Unibanco stake by 53.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 32.9 million shares and leaving it with 28.5 million shares valued at about $204.3 million.
• Itau Unibanco reported Q1 earnings below expectations, posting $0.20 EPS versus the $0.22 consensus and revenue of $9.01 billion versus the $9.41 billion estimate.
• The bank announced a special dividend of $0.068 per share, while Wall Street’s view remains mixed but still leans positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $9.00.

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 53.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,540,037 shares of the bank's stock after selling 32,882,046 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Itau Unibanco worth $204,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 104.3% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank's stock worth $574,053,000 after acquiring an additional 43,153,787 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 4.9% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 74,529,975 shares of the bank's stock valued at $546,305,000 after buying an additional 3,511,303 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 9.5% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 61,131,445 shares of the bank's stock valued at $448,705,000 after buying an additional 5,279,282 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 58,581,150 shares of the bank's stock valued at $419,441,000 after buying an additional 956,962 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 0.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 41,387,090 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,781,000 after buying an additional 369,474 shares during the period.

Itau Unibanco Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ITUB opened at $7.82 on Tuesday. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a one year low of $5.93 and a one year high of $9.60. The company's 50 day moving average price is $8.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.63.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 26.50%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ITUB. Zacks Research lowered shares of Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Itau Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,612,296.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,637,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,442,847.02. This trade represents a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 39,477 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total transaction of $376,215.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,205,642 shares in the company, valued at $11,489,768.26. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 292,277 shares of company stock worth $2,646,512 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

About Itau Unibanco

Itaú Unibanco SA NYSE: ITUB is a Brazilian banking and financial services conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company was formed by the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008 and is one of the largest private-sector banks in Brazil and among the leading banks in Latin America. Itaú Unibanco is publicly listed in Brazil and maintains an international listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The bank offers a full range of financial products and services across retail, commercial and wholesale banking.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ITUB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.