KBC Group NV Purchases 226,608 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

KBC Group NV increased its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 197.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 341,390 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 226,608 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.14% of FedEx worth $96,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 92,093 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $27,432,000 after acquiring an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in FedEx by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 1,180 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 43.3% in the second quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,221 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 12.8% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,799 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 3.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,615 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $21,173,000 after buying an additional 2,563 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:FDX opened at $273.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $65.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $234.45 and a 1 year high of $313.84. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $281.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.20.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FDX shares. StockNews.com raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $337.00 to $316.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In related news, EVP John W. Dietrich bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $273.98 per share, for a total transaction of $273,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares in the company, valued at $2,484,176.66. This trade represents a 12.40 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx 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.