Private Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 500 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UPS. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 7.3% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,954 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,863,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 11.3% in the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 27.7% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 1.3% in the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 6,950 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stewart & Patten Co. LLC raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC now owns 107,587 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,770,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares in the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $178.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.23.

Insider Transactions at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, Director Eva C. Boratto purchased 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $142.30 per share, for a total transaction of $199,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,220. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

UPS stock traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $147.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,607,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,897,331. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.68 and a 12-month high of $192.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.93. The stock has a market cap of $125.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.05.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 37.42%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.49%.

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.