Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,685 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $1,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 473.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in FedEx by 34.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $674,336,000 after purchasing an additional 578,350 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in FedEx by 8.6% in the third 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. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 2,163.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $52,667,000 after buying an additional 183,940 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 77.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 368,107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $101,022,000 after buying an additional 161,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE FDX opened at $276.62 on Thursday. FedEx Co. has a 12 month low of $234.45 and a 12 month high of $313.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $283.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FDX shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $321.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of FedEx from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.61.

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.