Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB Shares Sold by Madison Asset Management LLC

Madison Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 22.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 281,516 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 79,633 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $2,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in Itau Unibanco by 104.3% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $574,053,000 after purchasing an additional 43,153,787 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in Itau Unibanco during the fourth quarter worth $203,319,000. Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Itau Unibanco in the third quarter valued at $99,388,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 1,667.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,413,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $91,117,000 after purchasing an additional 11,711,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 36,551,763 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $261,679,000 after buying an additional 7,081,568 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITUB has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Itau Unibanco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.00.

Itau Unibanco Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Itau Unibanco stock opened at $8.38 on Wednesday. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1 year low of $5.93 and a 1 year high of $9.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.31. The company has a market capitalization of $92.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.58.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 21.27%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.11%.

Insider Activity at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Vanzo Carlos Orestes sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.24, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,008,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,306,035.36. This trade represents a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.