Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 39.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 5,296 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 131,416 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,265,000 after buying an additional 11,948 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 7,235 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 166,411 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,798,000 after buying an additional 2,925 shares in the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UPS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on United Parcel Service from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Vertical Research reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of United Parcel Service in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on United Parcel Service from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.31.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

NYSE:UPS opened at $86.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.00 and a 1 year high of $145.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.26. The company has a market cap of $73.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.10.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 97.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.