United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Shares Purchased by MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,946 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UPS. Certuity LLC increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 28,059 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,538,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its stake in United Parcel Service by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 3,117 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 308.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UPS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Baird R W downgraded United Parcel Service from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 0.3 %

UPS stock opened at $114.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.40 and a twelve month high of $158.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $125.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.16.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.73%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is 96.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Parcel Service 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.