Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,390 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $26,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,064,000 after acquiring an additional 33,989 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,934,000 after acquiring an additional 6,941 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth $1,305,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 131,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,304,000 after acquiring an additional 28,108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued 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, United Parcel Service currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS opened at $119.10 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.40 and a 1 year high of $158.95.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.51%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 97.04%.

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.