Aviance Capital Partners LLC Trims Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 308 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FDX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $4,961,716,000 after acquiring an additional 59,161 shares during the period. Sentry LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,811,748,000. FMR LLC boosted 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 worth $1,076,619,000 after buying an additional 916,555 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake 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 valued at $857,860,000 after buying an additional 35,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised 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 valued at $796,042,000 after buying an additional 360,680 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FedEx stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $260.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 928,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,955,771. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $264.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.15. The company has a market capitalization of $64.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $213.80 and a 12-month high of $291.27.

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

FedEx declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius Research raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Melius upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.