Spears Abacus Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Spears Abacus Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,076 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Spears Abacus Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $1,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in United Parcel Service by 210.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,943,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,878,723,000 after buying an additional 10,134,386 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 3.2% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,202,727 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,556,095,000 after purchasing an additional 414,934 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,273,417 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,988,777,000 after purchasing an additional 54,401 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,730,090 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,343,799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,775 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,255,623,000. 58.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UPS shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $190.00 to $177.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $198.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of United Parcel Service in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Parcel Service has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $187.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nando Cesarone sold 22,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.70, for a total value of $3,919,052.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of UPS traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $157.39. The stock had a trading volume of 3,650,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,317,647. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.87 and a 1 year high of $197.80. The firm has a market cap of $134.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $177.07 and its 200 day moving average is $178.92.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.04 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 51.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.20%.

United Parcel Service Company 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 letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.