National Bank of Canada FI Increases Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,727 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,628 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.07% of FedEx worth $41,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $4,961,716,000 after purchasing an additional 59,161 shares during the period. Sentry LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $1,811,748,000. FMR LLC grew its position in FedEx by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,076,619,000 after buying an additional 916,555 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in FedEx by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $857,860,000 after acquiring an additional 35,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in FedEx by 13.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,004,838 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $796,042,000 after buying an additional 360,680 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total value of $703,009.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,294 shares in the company, valued at $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773. Insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDX has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on FedEx from $346.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.33.

FedEx Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:FDX traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $261.28. The company had a trading volume of 276,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,993. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $264.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $213.80 and a one year high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.93%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

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.