Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,182 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 832 shares during the quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UPS. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Parcel Service by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,064,000 after acquiring an additional 33,989 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter worth $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after purchasing an additional 6,941 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter valued at $1,305,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 131,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,304,000 after buying an additional 28,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their price target on United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on United Parcel Service in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $119.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of United Parcel Service stock opened at $115.25 on Friday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.40 and a 52 week high of $157.99. The company has a market capitalization of $98.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $120.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Parcel Service’s 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.