United Parcel Service Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:UPS)

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 44,528 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 47% compared to the average volume of 30,302 put options.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In related news, insider Nando Cesarone sold 22,825 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.70, for a total transaction of $3,919,052.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $171.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Parcel Service

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 210.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,943,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,878,723,000 after purchasing an additional 10,134,386 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,255,623,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 105,818.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,215,560 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $732,833,000 after buying an additional 4,211,580 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 83,903.7% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,134,664 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $741,139,000 after buying an additional 4,129,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 90.8% in the second quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,825,039 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $864,888,000 after buying an additional 2,295,588 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on United Parcel Service from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on United Parcel Service to $203.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on United Parcel Service from $181.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Loop Capital cut United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $210.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on United Parcel Service from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $189.54.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:UPS opened at $162.31 on Thursday. United Parcel Service has a 1 year low of $154.87 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.04 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 51.28% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that United Parcel Service will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 56.20%.

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 letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.