ZEGA Investments LLC Takes Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,143 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at about $393,680,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 833.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 77.7% during the fourth 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. raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 10,040,863 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,272,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,328 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UPS. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:UPS opened at $115.25 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.02. 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 company has a market capitalization of $98.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.40 and a 52 week high of $158.95.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. Analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.04%.

United Parcel Service 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.