Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,124 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $8,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in FedEx by 473.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,042,050,000 after purchasing an additional 314,380 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of FedEx by 197.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 341,390 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $96,043,000 after purchasing an additional 226,608 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 2,163.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $52,667,000 after purchasing an additional 183,940 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on FDX shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.87.

FedEx Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of 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 price-to-earnings-growth 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $279.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total transaction of $713,371.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,984,589.98. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy B. Lane bought 333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

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.