United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Stake Raised by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,753 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,064,000 after acquiring an additional 33,989 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake 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 period. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,305,000. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.6 %

United Parcel Service stock opened at $116.37 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.40 and a 12 month high of $158.95. The stock has a market cap of $99.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.64%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total value of $1,015,025.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on UPS shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wolfe Research raised United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

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.