Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Has $551,000 Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 4.3% in 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 last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter valued at about $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after purchasing an additional 6,941 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in 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 worth $232,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,091 shares during the period. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on UPS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Loop Capital cut their price target on United Parcel Service from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE UPS opened at $116.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $123.21 and its 200 day moving average is $128.33. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.40 and a 52 week high of $158.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.17.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its 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 period last year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.64%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.