United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Trading Down 1.4%

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)’s share price fell 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $142.71 and last traded at $142.89. 4,197,107 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 4,529,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UPS. Redburn Atlantic raised United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $153.00 price objective on shares of United Parcel Service in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.61.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.28. The firm has a market cap of $121.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.05.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $24.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.40 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.46% and a net margin of 7.37%. United Parcel Service’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.63 dividend. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Parcel Service news, Director Eva C. Boratto acquired 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $142.30 per share, for a total transaction of $199,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,220. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.7% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 13,276 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.7% in the first quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,914 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 969 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 70.2% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 316,953 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $47,109,000 after buying an additional 130,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.6% in the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 8,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

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.