Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Grows Holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC grew its stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,485 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacific Sage Partners LLC grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 4,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gleason Group Inc. grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 6,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE UPS opened at $116.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.40 and a 12 month high of $158.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.38.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UPS shares. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.09.

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.