Smith Salley Wealth Management Trims Stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,910 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 15,779.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,631,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,994,853,000 after purchasing an additional 14,539,321 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 284.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,569,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $351,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901,914 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 833.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,927,607 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,989,609,000 after buying an additional 1,320,921 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on UPS shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.10.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

United Parcel Service stock opened at $129.77 on Monday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.56 and a 12-month high of $161.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released 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. The business had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.10 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.38% and a net margin of 6.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 98.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Parcel Service 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.