Union Pacific Corporation $UNP Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its position in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 51,603 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $11,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 2.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 63,710 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $14,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Union Pacific by 39.3% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,738 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,241,000 after buying an additional 2,746 shares during the period. St. Louis Trust Co boosted its stake in Union Pacific by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 16,584 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,816,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Union Pacific by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,150 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,486,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in Union Pacific by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 12,408 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:UNP opened at $225.54 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Union Pacific Corporation has a twelve month low of $204.66 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The railroad operator reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.73% and a net margin of 28.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This is a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Union Pacific from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $214.00 to $227.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $271.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Union Pacific from $244.00 to $238.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Baird R W raised Union Pacific to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $261.08.

About Union Pacific

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.