RIA Advisory Group LLC Purchases Shares of 13,867 FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,867 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,508,000. FedEx accounts for about 1.0% of RIA Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FDX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 916,555 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 559,607 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 360,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 60,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE FDX traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $266.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,739,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,103. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $213.80 and a 1-year high of $291.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $258.74 and its 200-day moving average is $254.17.

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

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 owns 486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,507.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773 in the last quarter. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Melius Research upgraded shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FedEx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.33.

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.