United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Shares Sold by Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA lessened its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,137 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 878 shares during the period. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at $364,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,736,000. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 267,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,728,000 after purchasing an additional 12,119 shares during the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 13,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,703,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Slagle Financial LLC raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 20,913 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,637,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Evercore ISI increased their target price on United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on United Parcel Service from $128.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.57.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:UPS opened at $109.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $118.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.44. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.40 and a 52-week high of $154.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $93.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.