Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 355 Shares of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP)

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 7.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,472 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $1,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UNP. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 27,502.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,491,151 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $588,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,126 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Union Pacific by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,395,364 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,370,559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,178 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Union Pacific by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,968,658 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,133,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,643 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Union Pacific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,361,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Union Pacific by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,650 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,587,763,000 after acquiring an additional 920,414 shares during the last quarter. 80.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $260.00 to $257.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $275.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Union Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $259.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Union Pacific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.21.

Union Pacific Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:UNP opened at $225.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $227.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.66. Union Pacific Corporation has a one year low of $204.66 and a one year high of $258.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The railroad operator reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 41.73%. Union Pacific’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Union Pacific Company Profile

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.