Merit Financial Group LLC Takes $227,000 Position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 7,403 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UBS. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in UBS Group by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 15,315 shares of the bank’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH acquired a new position in UBS Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,470,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in UBS Group by 98,052.9% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 16,686 shares of the bank’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 16,669 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in UBS Group by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 42,554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in UBS Group by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,657 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the last quarter.

UBS Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE UBS opened at $32.65 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.92. The company has a market cap of $104.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. UBS Group AG has a 12 month low of $25.75 and a 12 month high of $35.84.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $11.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UBS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of UBS Group in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of UBS Group in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded UBS Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.