Rathbones Group PLC Lowers Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,762 shares of the shipping service provider's stock after selling 1,887 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in FedEx were worth $6,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 88 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on FDX. Raymond James lowered their price objective on FedEx from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of FedEx from $295.00 to $272.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of FedEx from $364.00 to $354.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. BNP Paribas raised shares of FedEx from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded FedEx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $300.63.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,686,161.85. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FedEx stock traded up $1.06 on Friday, hitting $207.46. 2,196,102 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,778,362. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $194.30 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $49.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $244.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.74.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The company had revenue of $22.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.86 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. FedEx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.63%.

FedEx Company 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.