Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 723 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 723 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $10,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MWA Asset Management purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service during the third quarter worth about $2,125,000. Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.3% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 7,886 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 387,381 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,908,000 after purchasing an additional 44,721 shares in the last quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,184 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,148,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.0% in the third quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 74,337 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,587,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.23.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE UPS traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.10. The stock had a trading volume of 3,403,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,183,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.10. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.68 and a 1 year high of $192.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.53. The firm has a market cap of $125.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.05.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 37.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.49%.

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