United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 20.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,694 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 953 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in United Parcel Service by 15,779.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,631,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,994,853,000 after acquiring an additional 14,539,321 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 284.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,569,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $351,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901,914 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $232,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,091 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 6.4% during 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 buying an additional 1,320,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in United Parcel Service by 5,136.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,079,964 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,242,000 after buying an additional 1,059,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UPS. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on United Parcel Service in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $144.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.52.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE UPS opened at $135.85 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $115.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.99. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.12 and a 52 week high of $163.82.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.10 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 37.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.49%.

Insider Activity

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.