FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Trading Down 2.8%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)’s stock price fell 2.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $259.50 and last traded at $259.50. 736,306 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 1,909,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $266.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FDX. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FedEx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.33.

FedEx Trading Down 2.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $63.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FedEx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $5,756,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Sentry LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,811,748,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in FedEx by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,667,462 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,686,738,000 after buying an additional 880,894 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in FedEx by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,076,619,000 after acquiring an additional 916,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in FedEx by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $857,860,000 after acquiring an additional 35,085 shares in the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.