United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Shares Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)’s share price shot up 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $115.60 and last traded at $115.70. 1,061,035 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,651,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on UPS. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on United Parcel Service from $166.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Parcel Service has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 1.3 %

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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total transaction of $1,015,025.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,098 shares in the company, 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 link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPS. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 15,779.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,631,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,994,853,000 after acquiring an additional 14,539,321 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,075,393,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $393,680,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 833.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after buying an additional 1,851,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $232,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

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.