North Growth Management Ltd. Sells 5,000 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

North Growth Management Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,000 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. FedEx comprises approximately 1.8% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $9,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of FedEx by 11.3% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,184 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in FedEx by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,450 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in FedEx by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,562 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in FedEx by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,047 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after buying an additional 2,226 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam bought a new stake in shares of FedEx in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $256.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.50. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $234.45 and a 52 week high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FDX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.87.

Insider Activity

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,984,589.98. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,461,510.80. This represents a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

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.