FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Purchases New Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH acquired a new position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 706 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FDX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in FedEx by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,961,716,000 after purchasing an additional 59,161 shares during the period. Sentry LLC bought a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,811,748,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in FedEx by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,667,462 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,686,738,000 after buying an additional 880,894 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of FedEx by 1.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $857,860,000 after acquiring an additional 35,085 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,040,000 after purchasing an additional 798,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX opened at $298.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $258.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.36. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $224.69 and a fifty-two week high of $302.41.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.94 earnings per share. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 20.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.04%.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FDX. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on FedEx from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total value of $4,714,624.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,884 shares in the company, valued at $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 137,189 shares of company stock valued at $38,046,602. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

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.