Wealthspire Advisors LLC Reduces Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,411 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UPS. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 833.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851,900 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position 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 worth $232,959,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,091 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,927,607 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,989,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,921 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,919,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $367,300,000 after acquiring an additional 685,259 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 613,409 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Baird R W downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $158.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS stock opened at $116.83 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $122.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.17. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $109.40 and a one year high of $158.95. The firm has a market cap of $99.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. 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 yield of 5.61%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is 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.