Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 500 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,735 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,264,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,933,674,000 after buying an additional 1,337,058 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 70,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,315 shares in the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. increased its position in United Parcel Service by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 21,868 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,768 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on UPS shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their price target on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 2.1 %

United Parcel Service stock opened at $116.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.94. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.40 and a 12 month high of $158.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.62%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.04%.

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.