Advisors Asset Management Inc. Purchases 19,586 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 230,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,586 shares during the period. United Parcel Service comprises 0.5% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $29,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,035,313,000 after acquiring an additional 613,409 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 6.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,337,058 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,289,624 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,080,170,000 after acquiring an additional 373,202 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 3.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,627,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,448,960,000 after acquiring an additional 380,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 10,040,863 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,272,600,000 after buying an additional 1,277,328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UPS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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 on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

UPS stock opened at $118.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $120.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.32. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.40 and a 52-week high of $158.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.04%.

United Parcel Service 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.