Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 9,098,158 United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 9,098,158 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $902,446,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,496,420 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,794,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,432 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,063,250 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,594,713,000 after acquiring an additional 288,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,154,091 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,703,291,000 after acquiring an additional 240,253 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 10.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,991,490 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $667,109,000 after acquiring an additional 761,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 17.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,724,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $561,678,000 after acquiring an additional 993,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

Shares of United Parcel Service stock opened at $106.85 on Friday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.00 and a twelve month high of $122.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.06.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.05. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.1 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on UPS shares. Evercore cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

United Parcel Service Profile

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is a global package delivery and supply chain management company that provides a broad range of transportation, logistics and e-commerce services. Its core business centers on small-package delivery and last-mile distribution for business and individual customers, supported by a network of ground transportation, air cargo operations (UPS Airlines) and sorting facilities. In addition to parcel delivery, UPS offers freight transportation, contract logistics, warehousing, customs brokerage and reverse-logistics solutions designed to support domestic and international commerce.

The company traces its roots to 1907 when it began as a small messenger service in the United States and later evolved into the United Parcel Service.