New Century Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,128 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FDX. KRS Capital Management LLC grew its position in FedEx by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 5,721 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its stake in FedEx by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 288 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its stake in FedEx by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in FedEx by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, Director David P. Steiner sold 1,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.71, for a total value of $407,564.99. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David P. Steiner sold 1,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.71, for a total value of $407,564.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,474,330.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,864 shares of company stock worth $37,677,934 in the last 90 days. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FDX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Argus upped their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up previously from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.00.

FedEx Price Performance

FedEx stock traded down $4.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $293.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,274,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,457,575. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $224.69 and a fifty-two week 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $256.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.18.

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

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

FedEx Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. This is a boost from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

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.