Machina Capital S.A.S. Trims Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Machina Capital S.A.S. trimmed its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 49.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,756 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 2,728 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Melius Research upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.33.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FDX traded down $0.36 during trading on Monday, hitting $260.29. 928,126 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,955,771. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $213.80 and a one year high of $291.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $264.65 and its 200-day moving average is $255.15.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

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.