FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Position Cut by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,053 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. FedEx comprises about 1.6% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $5,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total transaction of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,161.85. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,711 shares of company stock worth $3,312,693 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FDX opened at $241.75 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $256.59 and its 200 day moving average is $270.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $217.22 and a 1 year high of $313.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.96 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.86 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 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, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s payout ratio is 34.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on FedEx from $323.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler cut shares of FedEx to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of FedEx from $337.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of FedEx from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.71.

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.