WASHINGTON TRUST Co Lowers Stock Holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,176 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,064,000 after buying 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 valued at about $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,941 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $232,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,091 shares during the period. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,305,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on UPS. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of United Parcel Service in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Argus upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $166.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Baird R W downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 0.6 %

UPS stock opened at $116.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $109.40 and a one year high of $158.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $124.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.78.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.64%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 96.45%.

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.