Stifel Financial Corp Increases Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 246,818 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in FedEx were worth $69,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. bLong Financial LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $391,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of FedEx during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,405,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $461,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in FedEx by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,329 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,855,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In related news, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 23,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,161.85. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX opened at $206.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $49.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.24. FedEx Co. has a 12 month low of $194.30 and a 12 month high of $313.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $236.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.56 by ($0.05). FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $22.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on FedEx from $350.00 to $331.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on FedEx from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of FedEx from $364.00 to $354.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of FedEx from $330.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.96.

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.