Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,644 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,226 shares of the shipping service provider's stock after selling 2,644 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of FedEx worth $71,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FDX. bLong Financial LLC bought a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $391,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the third quarter worth approximately $3,405,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $461,000. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,329 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at $26,855,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $91,927.98. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John W. Dietrich bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $273.98 per share, with a total value of $273,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,484,176.66. This trade represents a 12.40 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FedEx Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE FDX traded down $14.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $254.02. The company had a trading volume of 3,350,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,666,183. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $239.07 and a 12-month high of $313.84. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $271.34 and its 200 day moving average is $278.38. The stock has a market cap of $61.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.18.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. FedEx's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on FDX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised FedEx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $321.87.

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.