SFE Investment Counsel Has $3.98 Million Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

SFE Investment Counsel decreased its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,734 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 908 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in FedEx were worth $3,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $388,787,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the 3rd quarter valued at $496,611,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in FedEx by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,076,619,000 after acquiring an additional 916,555 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 33,890.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 651,597 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $166,972,000 after acquiring an additional 649,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 144.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,008,037 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $267,135,000 after acquiring an additional 595,628 shares in the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $262.96. The stock had a trading volume of 493,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,077,665. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.21. FedEx Co. has a 12 month low of $213.80 and a 12 month high of $291.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 EPS for the current year.

FedEx announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total value of $794,763.39. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,507.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 in the last ninety days. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FDX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Melius Research raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price objective on FedEx from $330.00 to $334.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.33.

FedEx Company Profile

FedEx Corporation provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. It operates through FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services segments. The FedEx Express segment offers express transportation, small-package ground delivery, and freight transportation services; and time-critical transportation services.