First National Advisers LLC Raises Holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

First National Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of UPS. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 131,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 105.4% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,190 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,571,000 after acquiring an additional 13,437 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 136,914 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,667,000 after acquiring an additional 8,377 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in United Parcel Service by 3.1% in the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,112 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service in the third quarter valued at approximately $531,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UPS shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on United Parcel Service from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE UPS opened at $116.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $120.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.38. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $109.40 and a one year high of $158.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $99.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.