Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Stock Position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 246.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,084 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 71,865 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 332.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 5,355 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 486.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,245,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,766,374.55. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was 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 approximately $14,442,847.02. This trade represents a 10.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,800 shares of company stock worth $2,270,296. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on ITUB shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Itau Unibanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Stock Up 0.5%

ITUB stock opened at $9.38 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.65. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $5.46 and a 12 month high of $9.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 20.64%.The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. Equities analysts expect that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.29%.

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.