Clearstead Trust LLC Takes Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,508 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in FedEx by 143.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in FedEx by 123.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 134 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com lowered FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $140,507.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the firm’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 value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE FDX traded down $1.38 on Friday, reaching $260.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,085,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,311,143. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $64.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $264.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.90. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $213.80 and a 12-month high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released 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%. FedEx’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 presently 29.07%.

FedEx announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication 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.