Short Interest in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Drops By 7.8%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) saw a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,290,000 shares, a decline of 7.8% from the January 15th total of 3,570,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

FedEx Stock Up 1.8 %

FDX stock traded up $4.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $267.83. 1,264,547 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,732,972. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $272.40 and its 200 day moving average is $278.92. FedEx has a twelve month low of $234.45 and a twelve month high of $313.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $64.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The business had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that FedEx will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,984,589.98. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 88 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of FedEx by 72.7% during the third quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peoples Financial Services CORP. purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James upped their price target on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.87.

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.