Argent Trust Co Reduces Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Argent Trust Co lowered its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,776 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in FedEx were worth $4,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth $807,352,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth $234,028,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its holdings in FedEx by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 852,767 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $239,909,000 after purchasing an additional 329,170 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in FedEx by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,298,646 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,209,338,000 after purchasing an additional 323,115 shares during the period. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its position in FedEx by 22,317.0% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 322,580 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $90,751,000 after purchasing an additional 321,141 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FDX. Stephens cut their price target on FedEx from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on FedEx from $295.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of FedEx from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on FedEx from $364.00 to $354.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,161.85. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FedEx Trading Down 4.2 %

FedEx stock traded down $9.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $208.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 165,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,651. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $245.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $194.30 and a 1 year high of $313.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.24.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The business had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.63%.

FedEx Profile

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.