Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Grows Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,152 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,952 shares during the quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $13,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,905,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,753,405,000 after purchasing an additional 768,912 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in United Parcel Service by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,774,530 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,106,381,000 after buying an additional 444,384 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in United Parcel Service by 3.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,792,139 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,603,459,000 after buying an additional 746,667 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in United Parcel Service by 4.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,623,834 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,675,733,000 after acquiring an additional 762,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the second quarter worth approximately $851,842,000. 60.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UPS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of United Parcel Service in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Bank of America upgraded United Parcel Service from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup dropped their target price on United Parcel Service from $126.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised United Parcel Service from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.67.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 3.9%

UPS opened at $110.31 on Tuesday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $82.00 and a one year high of $123.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.10.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.18. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 38.30% and a net margin of 6.28%.The firm had revenue of $24.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at United Parcel Service

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 25,014 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.15, for a total value of $2,655,236.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Parcel Service Profile

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is a global package delivery and supply chain management company that provides a broad range of transportation, logistics and e-commerce services. Its core business centers on small-package delivery and last-mile distribution for business and individual customers, supported by a network of ground transportation, air cargo operations (UPS Airlines) and sorting facilities. In addition to parcel delivery, UPS offers freight transportation, contract logistics, warehousing, customs brokerage and reverse-logistics solutions designed to support domestic and international commerce.

The company traces its roots to 1907 when it began as a small messenger service in the United States and later evolved into the United Parcel Service.