New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 357,671 shares of the shipping service provider's stock after selling 29,906 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.15% of FedEx worth $100,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $2,147,540,000 after buying an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $1,042,050,000 after buying an additional 314,380 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in FedEx by 197.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 341,390 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $96,043,000 after buying an additional 226,608 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $52,667,000 after buying an additional 183,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company's stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

FDX traded down $14.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $254.39. 3,484,987 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,670,095. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $61.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50-day moving average is $271.34 and its 200 day moving average is $278.38. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $239.07 and a 52 week high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.99 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. FedEx's payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total transaction of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,984,589.98. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total transaction of $1,100,271.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on FDX shares. StockNews.com raised shares of FedEx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Loop Capital lowered shares of FedEx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $365.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $321.87.

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.