Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,056,561 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,201 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in FedEx were worth $306,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,811,748,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $700,291,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in FedEx by 32.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,558,718,000 after buying an additional 2,163,622 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in FedEx by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $5,756,602,000 after buying an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,040,000 after acquiring an additional 798,084 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX stock traded up $1.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $300.14. 1,200,882 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,737,460. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $224.69 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $73.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $273.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.44.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 20.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s payout ratio is 32.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FedEx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total transaction of $4,714,624.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,634,640.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total transaction of $4,714,624.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 2,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.72, for a total value of $747,115.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,745 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,646.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,944 shares of company stock worth $9,882,355 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

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.