First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Takes $215,000 Position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 874 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Union Pacific during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, IMA Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Union Pacific during the second quarter valued at $37,000. 80.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Union Pacific from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Union Pacific from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Union Pacific from $235.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Union Pacific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Union Pacific Price Performance

Union Pacific stock traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $230.86. 610,568 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,280,761. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $245.64 and its 200-day moving average is $233.53. Union Pacific Co. has a 12 month low of $190.37 and a 12 month high of $258.66. The stock has a market cap of $140.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 46.87% and a net margin of 26.45%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.71%.

About Union Pacific

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.