EQ Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $184,000 in United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 3.9% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 5,413 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 0.9% during the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 11,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.4% during the first quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 3.4% during the first quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on United Parcel Service from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on United Parcel Service from $124.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $114.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.31.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

NYSE:UPS opened at $83.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.97. The company has a market cap of $71.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.10. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.00 and a 52-week high of $145.01.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.90 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 39.61%. United Parcel Service’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is currently 97.62%.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, CEO Carol B. Tome purchased 11,682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.67 per share, with a total value of $1,000,796.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,718 shares in the company, valued at $2,117,591.06. This represents a 89.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Johnson purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $86.50 per share, for a total transaction of $432,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $878,840. The trade was a 96.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 17,182 shares of company stock valued at $1,477,382. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About United Parcel Service

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.