Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,978 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 1,342 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in FedEx were worth $12,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $1,811,748,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the third quarter worth about $496,611,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,076,619,000 after buying an additional 916,555 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 33,890.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 651,597 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $166,972,000 after buying an additional 649,680 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in FedEx by 144.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,008,037 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $267,135,000 after buying an additional 595,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX opened at $260.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $64.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $263.57 and a 200-day moving average of $254.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $213.80 and a 52 week high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 EPS for the current year.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 6,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.02, for a total value of $1,769,882.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,277.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Melius upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FedEx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.33.

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.