KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 78,460 FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 78,460 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,164,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. bLong Financial LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth $391,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of FedEx in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,405,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth about $461,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in FedEx by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,329 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $26,855,000. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In related news, Director Amy B. Lane acquired 333 shares of the 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,927.98. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Down 6.5 %

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $230.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $55.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $259.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.49. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $217.22 and a 52-week high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.56 by ($0.05). FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The firm had revenue of $22.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.86 earnings per share. FedEx’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on FDX. Citigroup dropped their target price on FedEx from $347.00 to $317.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on FedEx from $295.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of FedEx from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.67.

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.