12,474 Shares in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Acquired by CFC Planning Co LLC

CFC Planning Co LLC acquired a new position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 12,474 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,573,000. United Parcel Service makes up about 1.7% of CFC Planning Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 15,779.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,631,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,994,853,000 after purchasing an additional 14,539,321 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 833.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $282,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 6.4% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,320,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 5,136.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,079,964 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on UPS. Robert W. Baird downgraded United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $160.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE UPS opened at $115.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.96. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.40 and a 52-week high of $158.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.17.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.45%.

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.