Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Lowers Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC cut its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS - Free Report) by 90.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 794 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 7,847 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 4.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $113,064,000 after purchasing an additional 33,989 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $11,934,000 after buying an additional 6,941 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $232,959,000 after buying an additional 1,620,091 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,305,000. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 26.4% during the third quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,357 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,503,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total value of $1,015,025.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of United Parcel Service stock opened at $114.19 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $128.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.40. The company has a market cap of $97.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.00. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.62 and a 12-month high of $158.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 37.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. United Parcel Service's payout ratio is 98.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UPS. Raymond James reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Baird R W lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $166.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of United Parcel Service from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Parcel Service presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $141.95.

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.

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