Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,416 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Union Pacific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Union Pacific from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Benchmark upped their target price on Union Pacific from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Union Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $248.00 to $267.00 in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.61.

Union Pacific Price Performance

Union Pacific stock traded up $3.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $242.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,585,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,293,755. The company has a market capitalization of $147.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. Union Pacific Co. has a 12-month low of $190.71 and a 12-month high of $258.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.97 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.52% and a return on equity of 44.34%. Union Pacific’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.21 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Union Pacific news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $937,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 56,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,170,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Profile

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.