Sheets Smith Wealth Management Acquires Shares of 23,571 FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,571 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,963,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FDX. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of FedEx by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 133,075 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $35,254,000 after acquiring an additional 13,197 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in FedEx by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,655 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter worth $282,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 595,122 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $157,660,000 after buying an additional 13,642 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FDX traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $260.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,085,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,311,143. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $213.80 and a one year high of $291.27. The company has a market cap of $64.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $264.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 EPS for the current year.

FedEx declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. FedEx’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total transaction of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FedEx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.