Empowered Funds LLC Trims Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 33.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 38,552 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $10,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UPS. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,408,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,510,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 136,914 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,377 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 17.9% in the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 8,694 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,185,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 349.8% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 6,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 5,390 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UPS. Citigroup decreased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $132.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $165.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.52.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of United Parcel Service stock opened at $134.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $114.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.76. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.12 and a 1 year high of $163.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.13. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 98.49%.

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.