Lincoln National Corp Increases Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,541 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in FedEx were worth $3,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. KRS Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of FedEx by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in FedEx by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 5,721 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 288 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 42.5% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $259.47. 1,356,046 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,948,964. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.15. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.80 and a fifty-two week high of $291.27. 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 (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of FedEx from $346.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $368,668.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,614 shares in the company, valued at $23,542,999.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,223,600.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.