Altus Wealth Group LLC Grows Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Altus Wealth Group LLC increased its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPS. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 232.3% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in United Parcel Service by 397.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 214 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on UPS. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of United Parcel Service in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $119.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

UPS stock opened at $116.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.40 and a 12-month high of $158.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.61%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

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.