FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Price Target Raised to $300.00

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the shipping service provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $327.00 price target (up previously from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on FedEx from $340.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on FedEx from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.00.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX stock opened at $299.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $258.10 and its 200-day moving average is $256.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.16. FedEx has a 52 week low of $224.69 and a 52 week high of $302.41.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that FedEx will post 20.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.84%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.04%.

FedEx declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares in the company, valued at $1,735,192.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other FedEx news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total value of $703,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares in the company, valued at $1,735,192.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,542,999.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 119,810 shares of company stock worth $32,924,413. 8.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 32.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,558,718,000 after buying an additional 2,163,622 shares during the last quarter. Sentry LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,811,748,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 1.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $857,860,000 after buying an additional 35,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 798,084 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.