Wells Fargo & Company Cuts United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Price Target to $91.00

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $91.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on UPS. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of United Parcel Service in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Vertical Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of United Parcel Service in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $113.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.81.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 1.9%

UPS opened at $84.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.14. United Parcel Service has a 1-year low of $84.28 and a 1-year high of $145.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.12.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.01). United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.61% and a net margin of 6.34%. The business had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that United Parcel Service will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.62%.

Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, Director William R. Johnson purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $86.50 per share, with a total value of $432,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $878,840. This represents a 96.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Carol B. Tome purchased 11,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.67 per share, with a total value of $1,000,796.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,718 shares in the company, valued at $2,117,591.06. This trade represents a 89.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Parcel Service

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,126 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 190,286 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,847,000 after purchasing an additional 12,286 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,386 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,219,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 17,722 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth $248,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

About United Parcel Service

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.