Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 435 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 13.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,693 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. acquired a new stake in United Parcel Service in the second quarter valued at $246,000. Abundance Wealth Counselors lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 8.5% in the second quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 8,977 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Atwater Malick LLC lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 11.3% in the second quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 30,364 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 3,077 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 257.8% in the second quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 45.1% in the second quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 1,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Parcel Service news, CEO Carol B. Tome bought 11,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.67 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,796.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,117,591.06. This trade represents a 89.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christiana Smith Shi bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.17 per share, for a total transaction of $44,085.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,085. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 17,182 shares of company stock worth $1,477,382 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $114.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $113.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.41.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS stock opened at $85.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.70. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.00 and a 52 week high of $145.01.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.01). United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.61% and a net margin of 6.34%.The company had revenue of $21.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.62%.

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.