Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Acquires 165 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,692 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $1,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. KRS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in FedEx by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in FedEx by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 5,721 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in FedEx by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 288 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 42.5% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total transaction of $794,763.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,507.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. Company insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of FDX traded up $1.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $271.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,186,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,060,923. The company has a market cap of $66.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $213.80 and a 52 week high of $291.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $259.74 and a 200 day moving average of $254.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FDX. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 11th. Melius Research raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 8th. Melius raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FedEx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.33.

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.