Graney & King LLC Buys Shares of 324 United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 324 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Parcel Service by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,136,394 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,213,699,000 after acquiring an additional 370,705 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,035,313,000 after purchasing an additional 613,409 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,264,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,933,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337,058 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,289,624 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,080,170,000 after purchasing an additional 373,202 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,627,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,448,960,000 after buying an additional 380,229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their price target on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on United Parcel Service in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $119.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.91.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

United Parcel Service stock opened at $110.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.40 and a 1-year high of $154.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $119.30 and its 200 day moving average is $126.68.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

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.