Thompson Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,394 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 410 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $5,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 473.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in FedEx by 8.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,042,050,000 after acquiring an additional 314,380 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in FedEx by 197.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 341,390 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $96,043,000 after acquiring an additional 226,608 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 2,163.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $52,667,000 after acquiring an additional 183,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $49,445,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, EVP John W. Dietrich purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $273.98 per share, with a total value of $273,980.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,484,176.66. This trade represents a 12.40 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the purchase, the director now owns 333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

FedEx Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of FDX opened at $256.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.23. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $234.45 and a one year high of $313.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $274.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.50.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The firm had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.87.

FedEx Company Profile

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.