United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Shares Up 0.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating. Wolfe Research now has a $147.00 price target on the stock. United Parcel Service traded as high as $126.47 and last traded at $126.02. 1,138,673 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 3,264,239 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.98.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on United Parcel Service from $165.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $134.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus upgraded 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, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Parcel Service

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UPS. Cigna Investments Inc. New raised its position in United Parcel Service by 1.0% during the third quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 7,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Gleason Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 6,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 4,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its position in United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 7,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a market cap of $108.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.33.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.49%.

United Parcel Service Company 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.