Allstate Corp Buys New Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 21,701 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,736,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UPS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,136,394 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,213,699,000 after purchasing an additional 370,705 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,035,313,000 after acquiring an additional 613,409 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,337,058 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,289,624 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,080,170,000 after acquiring an additional 373,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 10,040,863 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,272,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,328 shares during the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on UPS. Bank of America reduced their target price on United Parcel Service from $133.00 to $129.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $158.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.57.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS opened at $109.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $93.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $118.52 and its 200-day moving average is $126.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.40 and a 12 month high of $154.29.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company earned $2.47 EPS. Equities analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.98%. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.