Short Interest in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Rises By 5.9%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the August 15th total of 2,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total value of $607,821.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,189,042.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total value of $4,714,624.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total value of $607,821.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,189,042.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,944 shares of company stock worth $9,882,355. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FDX. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of FedEx by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Security National Bank purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus increased their price target on FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. 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. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com cut FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on FedEx from $340.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.67.

FedEx Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of FDX stock traded up $4.73 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $297.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,328,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,416. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.45. The company has a market cap of $73.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17. FedEx has a 12 month low of $224.69 and a 12 month high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that FedEx will post 20.82 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, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. 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.