V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,149 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in FedEx during the third quarter valued at $97,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in FedEx by 15.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,696 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $22,237,000 after buying an additional 11,081 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in FedEx by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 2,901 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in FedEx by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 28,799 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $7,882,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in FedEx by 34.2% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total transaction of $713,371.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,984,589.98. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,927.98. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens dropped their price target on FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.87.

FedEx Price Performance

NYSE FDX opened at $267.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $234.45 and a 1-year high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $272.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.45.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

FedEx Profile

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.