8,723 Shares in United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,496,420 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,794,160,000 after buying an additional 1,218,432 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,063,250 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,594,713,000 after buying an additional 288,720 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,991,490 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $667,109,000 after buying an additional 761,217 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,724,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $561,678,000 after buying an additional 993,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,072,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $423,746,000 after buying an additional 486,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.50.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS stock opened at $106.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $90.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $101.02 and a 200-day moving average of $103.08. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $82.00 and a one year high of $122.41.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.05. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 5.94%.The company had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. United Parcel Service’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.15%.

United Parcel Service Profile

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is a global package delivery and supply chain management company that provides a broad range of transportation, logistics and e-commerce services. Its core business centers on small-package delivery and last-mile distribution for business and individual customers, supported by a network of ground transportation, air cargo operations (UPS Airlines) and sorting facilities. In addition to parcel delivery, UPS offers freight transportation, contract logistics, warehousing, customs brokerage and reverse-logistics solutions designed to support domestic and international commerce.

The company traces its roots to 1907 when it began as a small messenger service in the United States and later evolved into the United Parcel Service.