United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Shares Down 0.4%

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)’s share price traded down 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $124.68 and last traded at $125.66. 846,096 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 4,264,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $175.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Baird R W upgraded United Parcel Service to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. HSBC upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Parcel Service presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.95.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 0.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $107.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.33 and a 200-day moving average of $143.79.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $21.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 35.27% and a net margin of 5.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.49%.

Insider Activity

In other United Parcel Service news, Director William R. Johnson bought 5,000 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $128.61 per share, with a total value of $643,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,627.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,218,714 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,568,798,000 after buying an additional 178,394 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,152,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,854,180,000 after acquiring an additional 8,475,698 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,607,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,510,517,000 after purchasing an additional 980,317 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,128,322,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 6.5% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,671,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $991,556,000 after acquiring an additional 406,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

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.