Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. Has $416,000 Position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,700 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Union Pacific by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,860 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 13.2% in the third quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 47.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 243,300 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $58,720,000 after acquiring an additional 78,847 shares during the period. TrueWealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Union Pacific in the third quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 7.7% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 954 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on UNP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Union Pacific from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Union Pacific from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Union Pacific from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Union Pacific from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Union Pacific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $261.40.

Union Pacific Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of UNP stock opened at $245.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $148.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.77. Union Pacific Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.55 and a fifty-two week high of $258.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.15. Union Pacific had a net margin of 27.82% and a return on equity of 41.12%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Union Pacific news, EVP Craig V. Richardson sold 6,495 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $1,636,740.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,632,388. This represents a 19.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,875,000.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 64,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,240,000. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Union Pacific Profile

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.