Brokerages Set FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Target Price at $301.33

Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $301.33.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

FedEx Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $266.99 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $259.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.10. The company has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx has a 1 year low of $213.80 and a 1 year high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx will post 17.67 EPS for the current year.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total value of $703,009.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773 in the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FDX. Sentry LLC bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,811,748,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $700,291,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in FedEx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $496,611,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in FedEx by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,076,619,000 after acquiring an additional 916,555 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 880,894 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.