Stephens Inc. AR Increases Stock Holdings in FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)

Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,790 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 437 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in FedEx were worth $12,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,161 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 159,971 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $45,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at $1,127,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Marvin R. Ellison sold 3,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.94, for a total value of $855,353.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,829,176.80. The trade was a 31.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 3,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total value of $860,226.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,696,592.77. This trade represents a 18.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,343 shares of company stock worth $2,228,816 in the last three months. 8.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FedEx Stock Performance

FedEx stock opened at $236.05 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $225.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.19. FedEx Corporation has a one year low of $194.30 and a one year high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The shipping service provider reported $6.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.09. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 4.65%. The company had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx Corporation will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. FedEx’s payout ratio is currently 34.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised FedEx from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on FedEx from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Susquehanna raised their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.25.

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.