Millstone Evans Group LLC Acquires New Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 312 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UPS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,064,000 after purchasing an additional 33,989 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter worth $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after buying an additional 6,941 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter valued at $1,305,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 131,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,304,000 after acquiring an additional 28,108 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on UPS shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $158.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

UPS stock opened at $115.88 on Tuesday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $109.40 and a one year high of $157.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $119.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.66%. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 97.04%.

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.