D.B. Root & Company LLC Sells 404 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

D.B. Root & Company LLC cut its holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,075 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 404 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UPS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,218,714 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,568,798,000 after purchasing an additional 178,394 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,854,180,000 after buying an additional 8,475,698 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 15,631.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,502,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,280,190,000 after buying an additional 14,410,073 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,607,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,510,517,000 after buying an additional 980,317 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,128,322,000. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on United Parcel Service from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $154.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.55.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of UPS traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $136.85. 6,609,563 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,011,769. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.01. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.90 and a 1 year high of $192.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $141.71 and its 200-day moving average is $148.56.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.42% and a net margin of 6.60%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.22 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.49%.

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.