Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases New Stake in UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired 12,822 shares of UL Solutions Inc. for approximately $723,000 during the first quarter.
• In May 2023, insiders Gitte Schjotz and Alberto Uggetti sold significant portions of their UL Solutions stock, reducing their holdings by 12.99% and 17.44%, respectively.
• Brokerages have recently increased price targets for UL Solutions, with Goldman Sachs raising their price objective from $57 to $63 and Wells Fargo from $65 to $77.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,822 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of UL Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in UL Solutions in the first quarter valued at $49,000. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC acquired a new stake in UL Solutions in the first quarter valued at $226,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in UL Solutions in the first quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in UL Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $332,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ULS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $60.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $71.00 price target (up previously from $60.50) on shares of UL Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UL Solutions news, EVP Alberto Uggetti sold 1,961 shares of UL Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $137,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,285 shares in the company, valued at $649,950. The trade was a 17.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gitte Schjotz sold 7,000 shares of UL Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.44, for a total value of $472,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,162,194.16. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

UL Solutions Trading Down 1.6%

ULS stock traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.98. 1,092,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 608,735. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. UL Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.79 and a 52-week high of $74.15. The company has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $71.18 and its 200-day moving average is $61.90.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.19 million. UL Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 40.79%. UL Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UL Solutions Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UL Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. UL Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.14%.

About UL Solutions

UL Solutions Inc provides safety science services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial, Consumer, and Software and Advisory. The Industrial segment provides testing, inspection, and certification services across various end markets, including energy, industrial automation, engineered materials, and built environment, as well as stakeholders, such as manufacturers, building owners, end users, and regulators.