Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Increases Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 85.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,370 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 12,121 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $4,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in United Parcel Service by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,889,570 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,456,055,000 after acquiring an additional 628,944 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 15,631.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,502,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,280,190,000 after purchasing an additional 14,410,073 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,677,202 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,508,385,000 after buying an additional 2,331,875 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in United Parcel Service by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,273,417 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,988,777,000 after purchasing an additional 54,401 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in United Parcel Service by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,730,090 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,343,799,000 after buying an additional 1,949,775 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UPS shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $153.00 target price on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $154.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded United Parcel Service from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.61.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

UPS stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $142.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,136,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,266,070. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $149.55 and a 200 day moving average of $151.28. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.68 and a fifty-two week high of $197.80.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.01. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.46% and a net margin of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $24.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.62 earnings per share. United Parcel Service’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Parcel Service news, Director Eva C. Boratto acquired 1,400 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $142.30 per share, with a total value of $199,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,400 shares in the company, valued at $199,220. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.