United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 99.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 942 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 183,958 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 387,381 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,908,000 after purchasing an additional 44,721 shares during the period. CapWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,184 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,148,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,676,441 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $578,053,000 after purchasing an additional 200,297 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth $2,410,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 235.3% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 237,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,316,000 after buying an additional 166,557 shares in the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on UPS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.95.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS opened at $128.85 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $137.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.69. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.80 and a 12-month high of $189.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $21.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 35.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 94.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Parcel Service

In related news, Director William R. Johnson bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $128.61 per share, for a total transaction of $643,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,627.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.