Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 117 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,889,570 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,456,055,000 after acquiring an additional 628,944 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 15,631.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,502,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,280,190,000 after acquiring an additional 14,410,073 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 31.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,677,202 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,508,385,000 after acquiring an additional 2,331,875 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,411,989 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,311,177,000 after acquiring an additional 31,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,456,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,006,389,000 after acquiring an additional 142,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eva C. Boratto purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $142.30 per share, for a total transaction of $199,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,220. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on UPS shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Argus lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $183.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.23.

United Parcel Service Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE UPS opened at $147.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $125.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.93. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a one year low of $133.68 and a one year high of $192.98.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 37.42%. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.49%.

United Parcel Service 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.