Swedbank AB Cuts Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,023 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 3,603 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in FedEx were worth $33,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,811,748,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $700,291,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in FedEx by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,558,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163,622 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $5,756,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in FedEx by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,040,000 after acquiring an additional 798,084 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

FedEx stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $285.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,303,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,867,482. The firm has a market cap of $70.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $283.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. FedEx Co. has a twelve month low of $224.69 and a twelve month high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The firm had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 20.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 32.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on FDX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 2,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.72, for a total transaction of $747,115.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,745 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,646.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 2,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.72, for a total transaction of $747,115.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,745 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,646.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total value of $607,821.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,189,042.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,944 shares of company stock valued at $9,882,355 over the last 90 days. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.