Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Sells 3,438 Shares of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC cut its holdings in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 61.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 3,438 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,430,581 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $3,282,305,000 after buying an additional 1,616,895 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 valued at $2,370,559,000 after buying an additional 1,298,178 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,650 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,587,763,000 after buying an additional 920,414 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,594,882 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,503,899,000 after buying an additional 105,111 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,439,861 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,468,546,000 after buying an additional 285,401 shares during the period. 80.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Union Pacific Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Union Pacific stock opened at $223.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $133.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $227.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Union Pacific Corporation has a twelve month low of $204.66 and a twelve month high of $258.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The railroad operator reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.19. Union Pacific had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 41.73%. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This is an increase from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on UNP. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Union Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Union Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $259.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna upgraded Union Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $245.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Argus upgraded Union Pacific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Union Pacific from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Union Pacific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.46.

About Union Pacific

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.