Howard Financial Services LTD. Buys 348 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,369 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 33,989 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after purchasing an additional 6,941 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted 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 valued at $232,959,000 after buying an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 4,757 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UPS. Bank of America upgraded United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Parcel Service has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UPS opened at $129.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.56 and a 52-week high of $161.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.01 and a 200-day moving average of $130.97.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued 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 company had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 98.49%.

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.