Verity & Verity LLC Buys 36,142 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 165,693 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,142 shares during the period. United Parcel Service makes up approximately 1.9% of Verity & Verity LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $20,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,064,000 after buying an additional 33,989 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after acquiring an additional 6,941 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% during 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 acquiring 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 third quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,503,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the period. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its position in United Parcel Service by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 4,757 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.10.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UPS opened at $129.77 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.97. The company has a market cap of $110.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $121.56 and a one year high of $161.35.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.49%.

Insider Transactions at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.