Forest Avenue Capital Management LP Buys 60,700 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Forest Avenue Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 191.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,400 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,700 shares during the quarter. FedEx accounts for 7.9% of Forest Avenue Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP’s holdings in FedEx were worth $23,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 44,213 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $11,185,000 after purchasing an additional 5,956 shares in the last quarter. HAP Trading LLC bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $3,488,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in FedEx by 238.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 5,068 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at about $437,000. Finally, Empirical Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $7,589,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FedEx stock remained flat at $248.60 on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 1,014,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,806,373. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.47. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $223.24 and a 1-year high of $291.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 31.83%.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on FDX. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of FedEx from $346.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.92.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total value of $794,763.39. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,507.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.