Vicus Capital Takes Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,102 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UPS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,218,714 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,568,798,000 after purchasing an additional 178,394 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,152,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,854,180,000 after purchasing an additional 8,475,698 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 15,631.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,502,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,280,190,000 after purchasing an additional 14,410,073 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,607,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,510,517,000 after purchasing an additional 980,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at $1,128,322,000. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on United Parcel Service from $183.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on United Parcel Service in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $156.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna upped their price target on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $178.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.55.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 0.8 %

UPS traded up $1.02 on Friday, reaching $136.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,609,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,011,769. The stock has a market cap of $117.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.90 and a 1 year high of $192.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.71 and its 200 day moving average is $148.56.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.42% and a net margin of 6.60%. United Parcel Service’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.49%.

United Parcel Service Company 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.