Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $1.17 Million Stock Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 13.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,752 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 755 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $1,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 272.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,678,108 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $379,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,318 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,118,477 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,012,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,625 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Union Pacific by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,370,752 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,812,689,000 after buying an additional 518,985 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Union Pacific by 186.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,769 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $159,461,000 after buying an additional 458,664 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Union Pacific during the 2nd quarter worth about $88,516,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Daiwa America downgraded Union Pacific from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI downgraded Union Pacific from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $254.00 to $247.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Union Pacific from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Union Pacific from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Union Pacific in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $264.00 price objective on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.53.

Union Pacific Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Union Pacific stock traded up $0.26 on Tuesday, hitting $240.61. The company had a trading volume of 431,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,598. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05. Union Pacific Co. has a 1 year low of $199.97 and a 1 year high of $258.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $246.48 and a 200-day moving average of $238.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.05 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 42.62% and a net margin of 26.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,552 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.59, for a total value of $875,887.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 64,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,014,787.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Union Pacific 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.