Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 10,162 Shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 328,086 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 10,162 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $74,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 3,656 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 8,857 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,020,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 28,523 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,987 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 139.6% during the fourth quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 460 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNP. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $288.00 to $283.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Union Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $263.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.40.

Union Pacific Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE UNP opened at $243.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $235.29 and a 200 day moving average of $240.11. Union Pacific Co. has a 1 year low of $218.55 and a 1 year high of $258.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.15. Union Pacific had a net margin of 27.82% and a return on equity of 41.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 12.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Insider Activity at Union Pacific

In other news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,875,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 64,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,240,000. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Craig V. Richardson sold 6,495 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $1,636,740.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,632,388. This represents a 19.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Union Pacific

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.