United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Holdings Trimmed by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,692 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 34,006 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $11,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacific Sage Partners LLC increased its position in United Parcel Service by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 6,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.9% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 3,053 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on UPS. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $119.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird cut shares of United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $158.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.57.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

NYSE:UPS opened at $109.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.44. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.40 and a 1-year high of $154.29.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

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.