Blair William & Co. IL Increases Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,870 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in FedEx were worth $7,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its stake in FedEx by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 7,925 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of FedEx by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,365 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,916,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in FedEx by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 3,400 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc lifted its position in FedEx by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 8,107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in FedEx by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE FDX opened at $241.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $217.22 and a 52 week high of $313.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $256.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.98. 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 (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.96 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. FedEx’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John W. Dietrich acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $273.98 per share, for a total transaction of $273,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,484,176.66. This trade represents a 12.40 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total value of $1,499,050.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,161.85. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,711 shares of company stock worth $3,312,693 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FDX shares. BNP Paribas raised FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Loop Capital downgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $221.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of FedEx from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

FedEx 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.