Choate Investment Advisors Raises Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Choate Investment Advisors lifted its stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,176 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of UPS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter worth about $393,680,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 833.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 77.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,150,901 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $397,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378,136 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,264,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,933,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337,058 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 10,040,863 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,272,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:UPS opened at $116.90 on Monday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.40 and a 52-week high of $158.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.38.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.64 dividend. 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 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPS has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on United Parcel Service from $166.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped 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. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.09.

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.