Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 36,900 Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,900 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $9,063,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Union Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Union Pacific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Power Corp of Canada purchased a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $937,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 56,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,170,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on UNP shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $228.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $231.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.48.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

Shares of UNP traded down $1.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $234.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,594,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,168,043. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $247.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.77. Union Pacific Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.37 and a fifty-two week high of $258.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.05 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.87%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.98 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is presently 49.71%.

Union Pacific Company Profile

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.