Abbrea Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Abbrea Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,596 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $3,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Sentry LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth about $1,811,748,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 3rd quarter worth about $496,611,000. FMR LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 916,555 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in FedEx by 33,890.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 651,597 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $166,972,000 after purchasing an additional 649,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in FedEx by 144.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,008,037 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $267,135,000 after purchasing an additional 595,628 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FDX traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $265.84. The stock had a trading volume of 957,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,028,186. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $213.80 and a one year high of $291.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $65.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $261.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.44.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. FedEx’s payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total transaction of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,223,600.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 in the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.