FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Shares Bought by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,367 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $5,756,602,000 after buying an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in FedEx by 32.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,558,718,000 after buying an additional 2,163,622 shares during the last quarter. Sentry LLC acquired a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,811,748,000. Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in FedEx by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $732,040,000 after buying an additional 798,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $700,291,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.00.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total transaction of $4,714,624.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total transaction of $4,714,624.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,884 shares in the company, valued at $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total transaction of $2,611,688.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares in the company, valued at $3,797,974.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,944 shares of company stock valued at $9,882,355 over the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

FedEx Trading Up 0.5 %

FDX stock traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $300.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,200,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,737,460. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $224.69 and a 52 week high of $313.84. The stock has a market cap of $73.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.44.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 20.94 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.04%.

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.