Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Has $65,000 Stock Holdings in Union Pacific Corporation $UNP

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. drastically reduced its holdings in Union Pacific Corporation by 93.8% during the first quarter, leaving it with only 277 shares valued at approximately $65,000.
• Union Pacific's stock recently saw analysts adjust their ratings, with Citigroup downgrading it to a "hold" and lowering the price target from $270 to $250.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.34 to $1.38 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 46.57%.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. trimmed its position in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP - Free Report) by 93.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 277 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 4,165 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $65,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNP. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Union Pacific by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,105,382 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,678,575,000 after acquiring an additional 142,732 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,949,345 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,641,715,000 after purchasing an additional 354,463 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,968,658 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,133,053,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,643 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,372,636 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $997,136,000 after purchasing an additional 89,199 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Union Pacific in the first quarter valued at about $988,822,000. Institutional investors own 80.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Union Pacific from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $244.00 to $238.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Union Pacific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $285.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Union Pacific to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $258.21.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:UNP traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $223.56. The stock had a trading volume of 5,012,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,091,132. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $227.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.74. The stock has a market cap of $132.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.65. Union Pacific Corporation has a twelve month low of $204.66 and a twelve month high of $258.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The railroad operator reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.19. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.73% and a net margin of 28.43%.The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from Union Pacific's previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. Union Pacific's payout ratio is presently 47.96%.

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.