ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 174,593 Shares of United Bankshares, Inc. $UBSI

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors reduced its United Bankshares stake by 22.5% in the third quarter, selling 174,593 shares and retaining 600,955 shares valued at approximately $27.6 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 70.8% of UBSI.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral outlook, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.20; recent targets range from $48 to $54.
• United Bankshares reported quarterly EPS of $0.94, slightly exceeding estimates, and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equivalent to a 3.2% yield and a $1.52 annualized payout.

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI - Free Report) by 22.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 600,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 174,593 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.44% of United Bankshares worth $27,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 35.6% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 13,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in United Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $240,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in United Bankshares by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 37,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,741,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory increased its stake in United Bankshares by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 14,797 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 4,416 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of United Bankshares by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. 70.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of United Bankshares from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of United Bankshares from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised United Bankshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of United Bankshares in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on United Bankshares from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.20.

United Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ UBSI opened at $48.22 on Monday. United Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.68 and a 1 year high of $49.62. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.01. United Bankshares had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 28.03%. The business had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.23 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that United Bankshares, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. United Bankshares's payout ratio is presently 41.19%.

Insider Transactions at United Bankshares

In other United Bankshares news, Director Mark Nesselroad sold 3,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.42, for a total transaction of $148,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,838.08. This represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.16% of the company's stock.

United Bankshares Company Profile

United Bankshares, Inc is a financial holding company that operates through its subsidiary, United Bank. The company provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities.

United Bank's offerings include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, commercial and industrial financing, treasury management and online and mobile banking.

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