Perpetual Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Perpetual Ltd reduced its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 39.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,080 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 1,967 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in FedEx were worth $866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Reliant Investment Management LLC raised its position in FedEx by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 912 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,345 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $4,036,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its position in FedEx by 49.8% during the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 5,694 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,894 shares during the period. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in FedEx by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,208 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,278,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE:FDX opened at $270.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $65.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $283.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $234.45 and a 1 year high of $313.84.

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

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In related news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FDX. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.61.

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.