United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Shares Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)’s stock price shot up 0.1% on Thursday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $141.00 to $147.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. United Parcel Service traded as high as $133.26 and last traded at $132.72. 507,503 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 4,315,732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.55.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on United Parcel Service from $134.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Argus raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total value of $1,015,025.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in United Parcel Service by 76.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 28,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,858,000 after buying an additional 12,208 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 61.4% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 139,404 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,077,000 after acquiring an additional 53,053 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.6% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 241,863 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,631,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $967,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $113.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $128.95 and a 200 day moving average of $130.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.13. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.38% and a net margin of 6.25%. The company had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 98.49%.

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.