North Growth Management Ltd. Sells 5,000 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

North Growth Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,000 shares of the shipping service provider's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. FedEx accounts for 1.8% of North Growth Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. North Growth Management Ltd.'s holdings in FedEx were worth $9,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in FedEx by 473.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 647,926 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 valued at $1,042,050,000 after purchasing an additional 314,380 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 197.4% during 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 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 buying an additional 183,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter worth $49,445,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at $30,984,589.98. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,100,271.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,904 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup upped 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $321.87.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $262.96. 1,952,736 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,722,544. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.68. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $234.45 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The company has a market capitalization of $63.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. 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 (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The firm's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. FedEx's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

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.