First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 346 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,062 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPS. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 77.0% during the third quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 46,434 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,331,000 after buying an additional 20,193 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in United Parcel Service in the third quarter valued at approximately $612,000. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,926 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 7,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on United Parcel Service in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on United Parcel Service in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $134.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.24.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.4 %

UPS stock opened at $135.93 on Friday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.12 and a 52 week high of $163.82. The company has a market capitalization of $116.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $21.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 35.27%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 94.49%.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In other news, Director William R. Johnson purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $128.61 per share, for a total transaction of $643,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,627.60. The trade was a 3,100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

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.