Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Increases Holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,206 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,671,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $991,556,000 after acquiring an additional 406,248 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,490,712 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $888,254,000 after purchasing an additional 20,426 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 10.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,144,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $567,157,000 after purchasing an additional 393,434 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in United Parcel Service by 2.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,113,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $611,445,000 after buying an additional 101,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 9.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,011,299 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $447,569,000 after buying an additional 263,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of United Parcel Service to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.24.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of UPS stock opened at $135.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.12 and a 1-year high of $163.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.82 and a 200 day moving average of $136.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.99.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $21.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 35.27% and a net margin of 5.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 106.36%.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, Director William R. Johnson acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $128.61 per share, for a total transaction of $643,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,160 shares in the company, valued at $663,627.60. This represents a 3,100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

United Parcel Service Company 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.