Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 8,723 United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 272 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 76.5% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 376 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 456 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 144.3% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 408 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

UPS stock opened at $106.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $90.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.08. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.00 and a 52 week high of $122.41.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.99 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 106.15%.

About United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is a global package delivery and supply chain management company that provides a broad range of transportation, logistics and e-commerce services. Its core business centers on small-package delivery and last-mile distribution for business and individual customers, supported by a network of ground transportation, air cargo operations (UPS Airlines) and sorting facilities. In addition to parcel delivery, UPS offers freight transportation, contract logistics, warehousing, customs brokerage and reverse-logistics solutions designed to support domestic and international commerce.

The company traces its roots to 1907 when it began as a small messenger service in the United States and later evolved into the United Parcel Service.