D.A. Davidson & CO. Raises Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,332 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,917 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $12,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FDX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 473.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,042,050,000 after acquiring an additional 314,380 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 197.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 341,390 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $96,043,000 after acquiring an additional 226,608 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 2,163.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $52,667,000 after acquiring an additional 183,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at $30,984,589.98. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE FDX opened at $267.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $64.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $272.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.71. FedEx Co. has a twelve month low of $235.32 and a twelve month high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FDX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens decreased their price objective on FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.87.

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.