First County Bank CT Reduces Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

First County Bank CT lowered its position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,504 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Union Pacific comprises 1.0% of First County Bank CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $1,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shellback Capital LP raised its holdings in Union Pacific by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 20,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,970,669 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,350,924,000 after acquiring an additional 124,571 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its position in shares of Union Pacific by 1,172.9% in the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 43,597 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $9,864,000 after purchasing an additional 40,172 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Union Pacific by 113.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 2,464 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in Union Pacific by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 217,456 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 33,601 shares in the last quarter. 80.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UNP shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Union Pacific from $273.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.11.

Union Pacific Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of UNP opened at $243.23 on Friday. Union Pacific Co. has a fifty-two week low of $199.33 and a fifty-two week high of $258.66. The firm has a market cap of $148.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $245.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.05 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 42.62%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $1.34 dividend. This is a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 51.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Union Pacific news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,552 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.59, for a total transaction of $875,887.68. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 64,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,014,787.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Profile

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.