CENTRAL TRUST Co Grows Holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS – Get Rating) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,605 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. IMS Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 8,557 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in United Parcel Service by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 67,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,883,000 after purchasing an additional 9,134 shares in the last quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC increased its position in United Parcel Service by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,950 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in United Parcel Service by 60.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 59,626 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,632,000 after purchasing an additional 22,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in United Parcel Service by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 26,227 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

United Parcel Service stock opened at $184.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.65 and a 200-day moving average of $178.42. The firm has a market cap of $158.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.08. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.87 and a 1-year high of $223.97.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.59 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.03 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 66.10%. United Parcel Service’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 11.5 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.52. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 20,724 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.26, for a total transaction of $3,777,156.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 20,724 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.26, for a total transaction of $3,777,156.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura J. Lane sold 14,617 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.16, for a total value of $2,604,164.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,341 shares of company stock worth $9,848,061 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $196.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Exane BNP Paribas cut United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 30th. KeyCorp raised their target price on United Parcel Service from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. UBS Group set a $196.00 price target on United Parcel Service in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Cowen raised their price target on United Parcel Service from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.54.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

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United Parcel Service, Inc is a package delivery company, which engages in the provision of global supply chain management solutions. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Domestic Package, International Package, and Supply Chain Solutions. The U.S. Domestic Package segment includes time-definite delivery of letters, documents, and packages.