NorthRock Partners LLC Lowers Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

NorthRock Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 886 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FDX. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its holdings in FedEx by 143.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, Director Marvin R. Ellison sold 2,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.34, for a total value of $758,826.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,081,909.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Marvin R. Ellison sold 2,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.34, for a total value of $758,826.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,081,909.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Guy M. Erwin II sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.24, for a total transaction of $34,711.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,293.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,565 shares of company stock valued at $6,662,844 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

FedEx stock traded up $6.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $305.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,046,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,931,735. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $265.16 and a 200 day moving average of $259.02. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $224.69 and a one year high of $305.59. The firm has a market cap of $75.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 20.94 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 32.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on FedEx from $340.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on FedEx from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.00.

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.