Violich Capital Management Inc. Buys 1,825 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Violich Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,895 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $1,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,689,791 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,281,335,000 after purchasing an additional 67,502 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 8.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,042,050,000 after acquiring an additional 314,380 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 0.7% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,699,179 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $465,031,000 after acquiring an additional 11,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,451,576 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $397,267,000 after acquiring an additional 13,093 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry LLC boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sentry LLC now owns 1,217,117 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $342,412,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John W. Dietrich bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $273.98 per share, for a total transaction of $273,980.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,484,176.66. This trade represents a 12.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FedEx Price Performance

FedEx stock opened at $258.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $234.45 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $274.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.23.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

FedEx 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.