Hardin Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 750 FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Hardin Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 750 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 88 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $331.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on FedEx from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on FedEx from $330.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.60.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX opened at $241.19 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.75. The firm has a market cap of $58.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $217.22 and a 1 year high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.56 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $22.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.96 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. 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 2.29%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total transaction of $1,100,271.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, 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, Director Amy B. Lane bought 333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,927.98. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.