Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 79 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Kovack Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 4.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,677 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,788 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 20.0% in the first quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 27,000 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $7,823,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 3.0% in the first quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 29,488 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $8,544,000 after buying an additional 847 shares during the period. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of FedEx by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 4,252 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Director David P. Steiner sold 1,369 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.71, for a total transaction of $407,564.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,474,330.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David P. Steiner sold 1,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.71, for a total transaction of $407,564.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,183 shares in the company, valued at $10,474,330.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,864 shares of company stock valued at $37,677,934 over the last quarter. 8.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FedEx Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of FedEx stock traded down $4.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $293.71. 1,274,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,457,575. The firm has a market cap of $72.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $259.20 and its 200 day moving average is $256.49. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $224.69 and a 1 year high of $302.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.36.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.94 EPS. FedEx’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 20.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s payout ratio is presently 32.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on FDX. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.00.

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.