Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 4,888 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 98,435 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,888 shares during the period. United Parcel Service comprises approximately 1.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $12,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,035,313,000 after acquiring an additional 613,409 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,264,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,933,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337,058 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.5% during 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. FMR LLC increased its position in United Parcel Service by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,627,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,448,960,000 after purchasing an additional 380,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in United Parcel Service by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,639,272 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $632,518,000 after purchasing an additional 292,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UPS. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 2.0 %

UPS opened at $119.10 on Thursday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.40 and a twelve month high of $158.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.94 and a 200-day moving average of $127.88. The stock has a market cap of $101.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.98.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.51%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

United Parcel Service 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.