Jane Street Group LLC Acquires 2,410,712 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 495.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,897,014 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 2,410,712 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $14,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 117.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,044,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $253,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,559,997 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,955,677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,340,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,303 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 48,018,726 shares of the bank's stock valued at $238,173,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,459 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank's stock worth $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 10,933,960 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,232,000 after acquiring an additional 2,335,830 shares during the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

ITUB traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.61. The stock had a trading volume of 64,222,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,399,684. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $5.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.29. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.42 and a 1 year high of $6.62. The stock has a market cap of $71.26 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The bank reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.07 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.0024 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a yield of 0.46%. Itaú Unibanco's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HSBC raised Itaú Unibanco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $6.18 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Profile

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA offers a range of financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Activities with the Market + Corporation. It offers current account; loans; credit and debit cards; investment and commercial banking services; real estate lending services; financing and investment services; economic, financial and brokerage advisory; and leasing and foreign exchange services.