Little House Capital LLC Acquires 3,817 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Little House Capital LLC grew its holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 38.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,845 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 3,817 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 valued at $578,053,000 after purchasing an additional 200,297 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 235.3% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 237,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,316,000 after purchasing an additional 166,557 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service during the 1st quarter valued at $121,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 62,360 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,467 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,607,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,510,517,000 after purchasing an additional 980,317 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Johnson purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $128.61 per share, with a total value of $643,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,160 shares in the company, valued at $663,627.60. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of United Parcel Service to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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, July 24th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.20.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of UPS stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $127.84. 558,040 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,219,187. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.12 and a 12-month high of $168.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $132.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.99.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.20). United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 35.27% and a net margin of 5.87%. The firm had revenue of $21.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. United Parcel Service’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.49%.

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.