Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stake in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP - Free Report) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,430 shares of the railroad operator's stock after purchasing an additional 7,277 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Union Pacific were worth $7,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNP. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,350 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,226,100 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $279,600,000 after buying an additional 323,525 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 122,162 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $27,858,000 after acquiring an additional 7,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $263.00 to $252.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Union Pacific from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James upped their price target on Union Pacific from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Friday, October 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $259.35.

Union Pacific Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of UNP stock traded up $4.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $234.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,296,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,378,769. The company has a market cap of $142.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $234.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.82. Union Pacific Co. has a 52 week low of $218.55 and a 52 week high of $258.66.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.79% and a net margin of 27.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Union Pacific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.22%.

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.