Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 811 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 21.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 811 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,218,714 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,568,798,000 after acquiring an additional 178,394 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,152,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,854,180,000 after purchasing an additional 8,475,698 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,607,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,510,517,000 after purchasing an additional 980,317 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter worth $1,128,322,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.5% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,671,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $991,556,000 after purchasing an additional 406,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Parcel Service news, Director William R. Johnson acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $128.61 per share, with a total value of $643,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $663,627.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UPS shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens decreased their price objective on United Parcel Service from $168.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Parcel Service currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.20.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

UPS opened at $127.40 on Friday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.12 and a 52-week high of $164.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.83.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.20). United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 35.27% and a net margin of 5.87%. The company had revenue of $21.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.12%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is presently 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.