United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 44.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 221,338 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 67,713 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $34,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPS. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in United Parcel Service by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,530 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 334 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Gleason Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 6,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.5% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 15,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Dfpg Investments LLC grew its position in United Parcel Service by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 25,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,981,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UPS. Oppenheimer lifted 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, April 24th. Raymond James lowered their target price on United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC raised United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on United Parcel Service from $154.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus cut shares of United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.23.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE UPS opened at $146.43 on Friday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.68 and a twelve month high of $192.98. The stock has a market cap of $124.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.49%.

United Parcel Service 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.