DNB Asset Management AS Has $35.41 Million Stock Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 170,998 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $35,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 50,565 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $10,471,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Investments LLC now owns 10,130 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,098,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,610 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stolper Co raised its position in shares of Union Pacific by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Stolper Co now owns 25,909 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. 77.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Union Pacific from $244.00 to $235.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Union Pacific from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Cowen raised their price objective on Union Pacific from $213.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Union Pacific from $219.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Union Pacific in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.60.

Union Pacific Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE UNP traded down $2.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $190.01. 11,852,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,290,306. The company has a market cap of $116.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10. Union Pacific Co. has a one year low of $183.70 and a one year high of $278.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.75 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 28.13% and a return on equity of 58.41%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio is 46.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Elizabeth F. Whited sold 2,500 shares of Union Pacific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,324,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

About Union Pacific

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Union Pacific Corp. engages in the provision of railroad and freight transportation services. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, NE.