Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Has $2.62 Million Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares during the quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $2,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,597,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,035,313,000 after purchasing an additional 613,409 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in United Parcel Service by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,927,607 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,989,609,000 after buying an additional 1,320,921 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,289,624 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,080,170,000 after buying an additional 373,202 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 15,779.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,631,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,994,853,000 after acquiring an additional 14,539,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 3.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,627,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,448,960,000 after acquiring an additional 380,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Parcel Service

In other news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total transaction of $1,015,025.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on UPS. StockNews.com raised United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.10.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $129.56. 431,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,092,394. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.01. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.56 and a twelve month high of $161.35. The company has a market cap of $110.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.10 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 37.38%. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 98.49%.

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.