Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. Has $217,000 Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 771 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FDX. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in FedEx by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 88 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in FedEx by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 111 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in FedEx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,984,589.98. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy B. Lane acquired 333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 333 shares in the company, valued at $91,927.98. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FDX shares. Bank of America raised their price objective 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 boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of FedEx from $333.00 to $332.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of FedEx from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.61.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE FDX opened at $276.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $66.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.20. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $234.45 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $284.31.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. FedEx’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.