Sierra Ocean LLC Takes Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 158 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in FedEx during the third quarter worth $97,000. Creative Planning lifted 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 worth $22,237,000 after purchasing an additional 11,081 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in FedEx by 112.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,802 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in FedEx by 2.1% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,930 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC bought a new position in FedEx during the third quarter worth $336,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FedEx Price Performance

NYSE:FDX opened at $267.83 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $272.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.92. The firm has a market cap of $64.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $234.45 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its 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 analyst estimates of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. FedEx’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In related news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at $30,984,589.98. This trade represents 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 Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the 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 $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FDX shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James increased their target price on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.87.

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.