FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Stock Price Up 1.8%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)’s stock price shot up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $269.10 and last traded at $268.09. 425,660 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 2,062,758 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Melius Research upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.33.

FedEx Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $259.22 and a 200-day moving average of $254.14. The company has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

FedEx announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the firm’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 approximately $3,223,600.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 ninety days. 8.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FedEx

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FDX. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in FedEx by 43.9% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,385 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $3,560,000 after buying an additional 4,693 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 101.5% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FedEx by 7.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,735 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $34,408,000 after buying an additional 10,731 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 553.3% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 392 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.