Professional Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Professional Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,682 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. Union Pacific makes up 1.1% of Professional Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Professional Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $4,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Union Pacific by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,788,337 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,109,829,000 after acquiring an additional 217,780 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Union Pacific by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,813,686 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,146,451,000 after acquiring an additional 182,620 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Union Pacific by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,312,154 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,880,701,000 after acquiring an additional 106,996 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Union Pacific by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,322,450 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,795,993,000 after purchasing an additional 625,492 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Union Pacific by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,285,585 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,549,271,000 after purchasing an additional 143,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Union Pacific in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI cut Union Pacific from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $254.00 to $247.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Union Pacific from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Union Pacific from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.80.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

UNP opened at $226.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $234.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. Union Pacific Co. has a 12-month low of $218.55 and a 12-month high of $258.66.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.79% and a net margin of 27.33%. Union Pacific’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is 49.22%.

Union Pacific Profile

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.