Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 1,950 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $2,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 21,985 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 282,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,096,000 after purchasing an additional 9,848 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 138.0% during the 1st quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 4,725 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 10,332 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Founders Capital Management LLC now owns 102,826 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,847 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on UPS. Galvan Research lowered their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $133.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.26.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

United Parcel Service stock opened at $102.43 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.17. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.55 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15. The company has a market capitalization of $86.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.11. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.63%.

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.