North Star Asset Management Inc. Has $17.75 Million Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

North Star Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,164 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 1,380 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $17,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in FedEx by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,353 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $478,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $2,397,000. Heritage Investment Group Inc. bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $3,984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

FDX traded up $3.62 on Friday, reaching $266.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,894,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,131,599. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.80 and a fifty-two week high of $291.27. The stock has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $259.22 and its 200 day moving average is $254.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.41 EPS. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. FedEx’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

FedEx declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About FedEx

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.