United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Stock Holdings Reduced by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,952 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 833.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after buying an additional 1,851,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $232,959,000 after buying an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,927,607 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,989,609,000 after buying an additional 1,320,921 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,919,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $367,300,000 after buying an additional 685,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,035,313,000 after buying an additional 613,409 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on United Parcel Service from $166.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 1.1 %

UPS stock opened at $118.97 on Friday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.40 and a 1-year high of $158.95. The firm has a market cap of $101.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $122.41 and its 200-day moving average is $128.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

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.