Salomon & Ludwin LLC Has $84,000 Stock Position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC cut its holdings in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 372 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $84,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new position in Union Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Union Pacific in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 211.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 109 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Union Pacific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,552 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.59, for a total transaction of $875,887.68. Following the transaction, the president now owns 64,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,014,787.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UNP traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $248.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 656,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,263,194. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.92. Union Pacific Co. has a fifty-two week low of $199.33 and a fifty-two week high of $258.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.05 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 42.62% and a net margin of 26.90%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNP. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $281.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Union Pacific in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital lowered Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $276.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Union Pacific from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Union Pacific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.79.

About Union Pacific

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.