Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Acquires 185 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,852 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FDX. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 0.6% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 68,254 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $18,082,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in shares of FedEx in the third quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 1,449.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,276 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 4.2% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 3,779 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the third quarter valued at $246,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX stock traded down $4.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $261.81. 853,565 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,999,098. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $263.18 and its 200-day moving average is $254.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $64.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.21. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $213.80 and a 52 week high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 EPS for the current year.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total transaction of $794,763.39. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 486 shares in the company, valued at $140,507.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.33.

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.