Millstone Evans Group LLC Purchases Shares of 312 United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 312 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter valued at about $393,680,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 833.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,900 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,150,901 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $397,329,000 after buying an additional 1,378,136 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,264,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,933,674,000 after buying an additional 1,337,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 10,040,863 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,272,600,000 after buying an additional 1,277,328 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on UPS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on United Parcel Service in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $119.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.7 %

UPS opened at $115.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.14. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.40 and a 12-month high of $157.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $119.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.92.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.66%. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 97.04%.

United Parcel Service Company 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.