Sharp Financial Services LLC Sells 615 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Sharp Financial Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,015 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 615 shares during the quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% in 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 during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised 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 buying an additional 6,941 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in 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 period. HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at $1,305,000. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 26.4% in the third quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,503,000 after buying an additional 3,835 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on United Parcel Service from $134.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upgraded United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on United Parcel Service from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.38.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

UPS opened at $132.59 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.81. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.56 and a 12-month high of $161.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.00.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.13. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.38% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.49%.

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.