South Dakota Investment Council Sells 1,500 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,472 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in FedEx were worth $12,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FDX. Sentry LLC acquired a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $1,811,748,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in FedEx in the 3rd quarter worth about $496,611,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 916,555 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in FedEx by 33,890.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 651,597 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $166,972,000 after purchasing an additional 649,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in FedEx by 144.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,008,037 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $267,135,000 after purchasing an additional 595,628 shares in the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FDX traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $271.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,186,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,060,923. The company has a market capitalization of $66.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $213.80 and a 1 year high of $291.27. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $260.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.28.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In related 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total value of $794,763.39. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,507.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. Company insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FDX. Bank of America decreased their price target on FedEx from $346.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FedEx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.