United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Position Increased by Sabal Trust CO

Sabal Trust CO increased its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,027 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,005 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $21,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 833.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $232,959,000 after buying an additional 1,620,091 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in United Parcel Service by 6.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake 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 valued at $367,300,000 after buying an additional 685,259 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,035,313,000 after buying an additional 613,409 shares in the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on UPS shares. Wolfe Research upgraded United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Baird R W lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on United Parcel Service from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 1.7 %

UPS stock opened at $118.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.78 and a 200 day moving average of $128.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.40 and a 52 week high of $158.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 5.55%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

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.