FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) is Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,203 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. FedEx accounts for 1.7% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $5,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FDX. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 1st quarter worth about $227,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx in the first quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 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 worth $5,756,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in FedEx by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 47,924 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $13,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its position in shares of FedEx by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 10,253 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FDX opened at $294.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.27. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $234.45 and a 1-year high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm had revenue of $21.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 34.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FDX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on FedEx from $333.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Daiwa America downgraded FedEx from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. StockNews.com upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen 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 $316.04.

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.