Short Interest in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Drops By 7.8%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,290,000 shares, a drop of 7.8% from the January 15th total of 3,570,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $807,352,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $234,028,000. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,889,624 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $3,907,568,000 after acquiring an additional 734,268 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in FedEx by 473.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $145,733,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FDX traded up $4.71 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $267.83. 1,264,547 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,732,972. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. FedEx has a 12 month low of $234.45 and a 12 month high of $313.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $272.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The company had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that FedEx will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FDX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Loop Capital lowered FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $365.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens dropped their target price on FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.87.

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.