Raymond James Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) Stock Price

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) had its target price lowered by analysts at Raymond James from $285.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Raymond James’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on UNP. Loop Capital cut Union Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $253.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Union Pacific from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Union Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $244.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.18.

Union Pacific Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Union Pacific stock opened at $219.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.47. Union Pacific has a 52-week low of $204.66 and a 52-week high of $258.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.06.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.15. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 27.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Union Pacific will post 11.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Craig V. Richardson sold 6,495 shares of Union Pacific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $1,636,740.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,319 shares in the company, valued at $6,632,388. This trade represents a 19.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 64,960 shares in the company, valued at $16,240,000. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,430,581 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,282,305,000 after buying an additional 1,616,895 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,395,364 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,370,559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,178 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,927,377,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,686,387 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,752,804,000 after acquiring an additional 363,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,650 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,587,763,000 after purchasing an additional 920,414 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Company Profile

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.