UBS Group AG $UBS Shares Sold by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in UBS Group AG by 12.6%, selling 255,545 shares in the second quarter, leaving them with approximately 1.77 million shares valued at nearly $59.58 million.
• Goldman Sachs Group significantly increased its holdings in UBS by 88.5%, now owning over 37.65 million shares, while several other institutions also made substantial investments or adjustments in the bank's stock during the first quarter.
• UBS Group reported earnings of $0.72 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and analysts project an average earnings per share of 1.9 for the current fiscal year.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its stake in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS - Free Report) by 12.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,766,535 shares of the bank's stock after selling 255,545 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned about 0.06% of UBS Group worth $59,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 88.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 37,654,399 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,153,354,000 after buying an additional 17,676,829 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $348,161,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in UBS Group during the first quarter worth approximately $206,885,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in UBS Group by 16.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 31,350,911 shares of the bank's stock worth $960,278,000 after acquiring an additional 4,337,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in UBS Group by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 55,586,232 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,688,163,000 after acquiring an additional 4,207,140 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UBS. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of UBS Group in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley downgraded UBS Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of UBS Group in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Zacks Research raised UBS Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

UBS Group Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of UBS opened at $40.42 on Thursday. UBS Group AG has a 12 month low of $25.75 and a 12 month high of $42.56. The stock's 50-day moving average is $39.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $129.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.18.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The bank reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 9.21%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Profile

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.

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