Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of FedEx Call Options (NYSE:FDX)

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 23,166 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 21% compared to the typical volume of 19,084 call options.

FedEx Stock Up 1.0 %

FDX stock opened at $275.88 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $282.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.66. FedEx has a 52 week low of $234.45 and a 52 week high of $313.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $67.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that FedEx will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s payout ratio is 34.05%.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 8.6% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 455 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of FedEx by 0.5% in the second quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,690 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,306,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC increased its stake in FedEx by 2.4% in the second quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 29.1% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 164 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in FedEx by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,948 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on FDX shares. StockNews.com downgraded FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on FedEx from $335.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. HSBC lowered FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of FedEx from $334.00 to $328.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.68.

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.