Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP - Free Report) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,974 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 6,156 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC's holdings in Union Pacific were worth $7,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,430,581 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $3,282,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616,895 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,395,364 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $2,370,559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,178 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific in the 4th quarter valued at $1,927,377,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,686,387 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,752,804,000 after purchasing an additional 363,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,594,882 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,503,899,000 after purchasing an additional 105,111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Union Pacific from $270.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Union Pacific from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Union Pacific presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $257.86.

Union Pacific Stock Down 0.8 %

Union Pacific stock traded down $1.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $213.99. 4,458,500 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,589,132. The company has a market cap of $127.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.06. Union Pacific Co. has a twelve month low of $204.66 and a twelve month high of $258.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $229.73 and a 200-day moving average of $235.15.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.11 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 27.82%. The company's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.99 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Union Pacific's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.29%.

About Union Pacific

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.