Bill Few Associates Inc. Has $270,000 Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Bill Few Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UPS. Cigna Investments Inc. New raised its position in United Parcel Service by 1.0% in the third quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 7,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its position in United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 6,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 4,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in United Parcel Service by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 7,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on UPS shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Susquehanna upped their target price on United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total transaction of $1,015,025.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. This trade represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 0.2 %

UPS opened at $132.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.95 and its 200 day moving average is $130.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.00. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.56 and a fifty-two week high of $161.35.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.10 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.38% and a net margin of 6.25%. United Parcel Service’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 98.49%.

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.