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

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 143.2% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in FedEx by 123.3% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 134 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Melius upgraded shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.33.

FedEx Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of FDX stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $260.29. The stock had a trading volume of 928,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,955,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $264.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.15. The firm 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. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $213.80 and a 12-month high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its earnings results 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. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

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

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other FedEx 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 transaction, the chairman now 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 is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 6,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.02, for a total value of $1,769,882.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,277.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the 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 sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Company 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.