Eukles Asset Management Raises Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Eukles Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 260.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,301 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,719 shares during the quarter. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in FedEx were worth $2,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in FedEx by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $4,961,716,000 after buying an additional 59,161 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in FedEx by 29.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,076,619,000 after purchasing an additional 916,555 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,412,956 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $591,124,000 after buying an additional 559,607 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 13.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,004,838 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $796,042,000 after buying an additional 360,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,356,109 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $624,180,000 after buying an additional 60,201 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total value of $794,763.39. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 486 shares in the company, valued at $140,507.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. Insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Up 1.6 %

FDX stock traded up $4.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $267.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 809,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,209. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $213.80 and a 52-week high of $291.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.17.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 EPS for the current year.

FedEx declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FDX. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.33.

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.