Southland Equity Partners LLC Purchases 498 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,688 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UPS. Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 7,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Gleason Group Inc. grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 6,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.8% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 4,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 7,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on UPS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.24.

Insider Transactions at United Parcel Service

In other news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total transaction of $1,015,025.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:UPS opened at $133.61 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $128.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $121.56 and a one year high of $161.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.10 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 37.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.49%.

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.