Suncoast Equity Management Decreases Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Suncoast Equity Management lessened its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,490 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in FedEx were worth $630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in FedEx by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,961,716,000 after acquiring an additional 59,161 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in FedEx by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,076,619,000 after acquiring an additional 916,555 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in FedEx by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,412,956 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $591,124,000 after acquiring an additional 559,607 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in FedEx by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,004,838 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $796,042,000 after acquiring an additional 360,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in FedEx by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,356,109 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $624,180,000 after acquiring an additional 60,201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total transaction of $794,763.39. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,507.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of FDX stock traded down $1.19 on Tuesday, reaching $265.55. 334,115 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,094,266. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $257.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.05. The company has a market capitalization of $65.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. FedEx Co. has a twelve month low of $213.80 and a twelve month high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FDX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on FedEx from $322.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Bank of America cut their price target on FedEx from $346.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on FedEx from $330.00 to $334.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.33.

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.