L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Sells 390 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP trimmed its holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,551 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 390 shares during the period. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $2,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 4.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,064,000 after purchasing an additional 33,989 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter worth about $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,934,000 after acquiring an additional 6,941 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $232,959,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,305,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on UPS shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.73.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.3 %

UPS stock opened at $114.49 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $125.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.14. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is 96.45%.

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.