FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $275.06, but opened at $265.00. FedEx shares last traded at $267.43, with a volume of 315,926 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FDX. Bank of America boosted their target price on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.43.

FedEx Trading Down 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $63.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $279.62 and a 200-day moving average of $282.44.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The company had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FedEx

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allied Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in FedEx by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,804 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $11,479,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 84,127 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $23,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 10,540 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in FedEx by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 254 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in FedEx by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 16,473 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,657,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.