United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Upgraded to Outperform at Wolfe Research

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) was upgraded by Wolfe Research from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $147.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.02% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on UPS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on United Parcel Service from $165.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of United Parcel Service in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.10.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 1.4 %

UPS stock opened at $126.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $108.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. United Parcel Service has a 52 week low of $122.01 and a 52 week high of $161.48.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.10 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.38% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that United Parcel Service will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total value of $1,015,025.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,035,313,000 after purchasing an additional 613,409 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,927,607 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,989,609,000 after buying an additional 1,320,921 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,289,624 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,080,170,000 after acquiring an additional 373,202 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 15,779.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,631,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,994,853,000 after acquiring an additional 14,539,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 3.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,627,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,448,960,000 after acquiring an additional 380,229 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About United Parcel Service

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.