FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Reduces Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co reduced its position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,652 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 4.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,064,000 after buying an additional 33,989 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter worth about $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after purchasing an additional 6,941 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $232,959,000 after buying an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of UPS opened at $116.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $99.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.40 and a 1 year high of $158.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.19.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 97.04%.

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.