Founded by two teenagers with a $100 loan, the United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Jim Casey and Claude Ryan founded the American Messenger Company in a basement in Seattle at a time in history when automobiles and phones were not widely accessible.
Instead, the two teenagers carried out a variety of errands on foot, such as prescriptions, letters, and other everyday items. Today, UPS is one of the largest global shipping and logistics companies in the world. As of January 2022, the company’s market capitalization is $183.58 billion. The company reported Q3 2021 revenues of $23.2 billion.
Key Takeaways
- UPS is one of the largest global shipping and logistics companies in the world; as of January 2022, the company’s market capitalization is $183.58 billion.
- Institutional investors make up over 70% of UPS stock ownership.
- The Vanguard Group Inc. owns over 64 million shares of UPS and has an 8.8% stake in the company.
- BlackRock is the second-largest institutional holders, with 7.34% of the company.
- Retired CEO David Abney holds the largest insider stake at UPS, with over 3 million shares.
Top 3 Institutional Shareholders of UPS
The largest shareholders in UPS are institutions, like asset managers and mutual funds. They purchase shares of UPS stock to include in the portfolios of their many clients. Institutional investors make up over 70% of UPS stock ownership.
The Vanguard Group Inc.
The Vanguard Group Inc. is a major player in passively-managed stock mutual funds. The asset management company recorded assets under management of $7.2 trillion as of January 29, 2022. It owns over 64 million shares of UPS and has an 8.8% stake in the company. Five of the top ten mutual fund holders of UPS are Vanguard Funds, including Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, Vanguard 500 Index Fund, Vanguard Specialized-Dividend Growth Fund, Vanguard Institutional Index Fund, and Vanguard Specialized-Dividend Appreciation Index Fund.
BlackRock Fund Advisors
With $9.46 trillion in assets under management in September 2021, BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) is the largest investment management company in the world, publicly-traded or otherwise. Boasting a market capitalization of $134 billion as of January 13, 2022, the firm sells mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and closed-end funds. BlackRock owns over 53 million shares of UPS, which amounts to 7.34% of the company.
State Street Global Advisors
State Street Global Advisors is a large asset manager and is one of the major sponsors of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). State Street has $3.86 trillion of assets under management as of September 30, 2021. The company controls more than 29 million shares (about 4%) of UPS, as of September 29, 2021.
Top 3 Individual Holders of UPS Shares
Company insiders and high-ranking executives tend to be among the largest shareholders of a company. The following figures reflect the individuals with the largest holdings in UPS. These figures only reflect shares that they directly own, and do not include indirect ownership.
David P. Abney
David P. Abney was UPS’s Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) until his retirement in 2020. According to a proxy statement filed in 2021, Abney personally holds 652,568 shares of UPS stock, in addition to 2,695,520 shares owned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where Abney is a Trustee. Under SEC rules, this means that Abney is the beneficial owner of more than 3.3 million shares of UPS stock. This is by far the largest insider holding, but still less than 0.39% of all outstanding shares.
Abney began his career as a part-time package loader while in college. He was appointed CEO in 2014 and chair in 2016. Abney previously served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and president of UPS International.
Abney led the company’s strategic initiative to increase its global logistics capabilities. During his career, Abney supported many global acquisitions, including the Fritz Companies, Stolica, Lynx Express, and Sino-Trans in China. Earlier in his career, Abney served as President of SonicAir, a same-day delivery service that signaled UPS’s move into the service parts logistics sector.
Carol B. Tomé
Abney’s successor, Carol Tomé, assumed the role of CEO in June of 2020. She had been part of the company’s board since 2003 and had previously served as chair of the Audit Committee. In addition to her roles at UPS, she has also served as Chief Financial Officer at the Home Depot, a position she held for 18 years.
As of UPS’ 2021 filings, Carol Tomé held 197,365 shares of UPS stock, making her the second-largest individual owner after Abney. However, her holdings account for less than 0.1% of all outstanding shares.
Juan Perez
The third-largest insider stake in UPS is held by Juan Perez, who has served as the company’s Chief Information and Engineering Officer since 2017. He previously served as the company’s CIO and Vice President of Technology, where he played an important role in UPS’ adoption of advanced analytics to route package flow. In 2019, he was named to Hershey’s Board of Directors.
Perez is the beneficial owner of 114,997 shares of UPS stock, a figure well below 0.1% of all outstanding shares.
Why Did UPS Shareholder’s Equity Go Down?
Shareholder equity in United Parcel Service (UPS) fell sharply in the middle of 2021, with the stock losing up to 6% of its value in a single day. Although the fall cannot be conclusively pinned on any single factor, the fall was likely due to the company’s revision of its post-pandemic earnings potential. During a webcast with investors and shareholders, UPS projected that its future operating margins would be lower than expected, causing some shareholders to doubt the logistics company’s competitiveness with the likes of Amazon.
What Percent of Market Share Does UPS Have?
UPS is the largest private parcel delivery firm in the United States and makes about 35% of all local deliveries as of 2020. FedEx was the next largest player in the market, with 34%, while the United States Postal Service accounted for only 19%.
How Many Shareholders Does UPS have?
The vast majority of UPS shares are held by institutions, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, and asset managers. There are 2,139 such institutions, collectively holding more than 68% of all UPS shares. The rest are held by individual owners, including company executives and other insiders.
