United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Trading Up 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)’s share price traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $126.78 and last traded at $126.70. 4,535,448 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 3,971,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on UPS. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Argus upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.10.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 2.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $105.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.54 and a 200 day moving average of $131.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.13. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.38% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Parcel Service

In other news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total transaction of $1,015,025.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Parcel Service

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,064,000 after buying an additional 33,989 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after buying an additional 6,941 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $232,959,000 after buying an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 26.4% in the third quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,503,000 after buying an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,919,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $367,300,000 after purchasing an additional 685,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

About United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, Inc, a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of express letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.