WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,938 United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS – Get Rating) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPS. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 27.0% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,412,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,170,529,000 after buying an additional 1,362,612 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 68.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,919,598 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $310,092,000 after buying an additional 781,505 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,099,021 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,839,176,000 after buying an additional 601,166 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 780.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 639,957 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $116,819,000 after buying an additional 567,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 55.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 987,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $159,448,000 after buying an additional 353,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on UPS. Evercore ISI upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $181.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Raymond James cut their price target on United Parcel Service from $210.00 to $207.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. UBS Group set a $196.00 price target on United Parcel Service in a research note 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $181.00 price target on United Parcel Service in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.54.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 0.6 %

UPS opened at $186.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $160.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.08. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.87 and a 52 week high of $223.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.42.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.59 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.03 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 66.10% and a net margin of 11.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 11.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

United Parcel Service announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 31st that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Brian Newman sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.46, for a total value of $3,466,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,130,585.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Laura J. Lane sold 14,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.16, for a total value of $2,604,164.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian Newman sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.46, for a total value of $3,466,740.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,130,585.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,341 shares of company stock valued at $9,848,061. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service 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.