Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 655 Shares of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) by 0.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 146,022 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 655 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $35,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of FedEx by 12.8% during the 4th 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 period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of FedEx by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 62,520 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $17,560,000 after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of FedEx by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 17,578 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $4,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. German American Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of FedEx by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 26,417 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $7,432,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $967,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:FDX opened at $222.40 on Wednesday. FedEx Corporation has a one year low of $194.29 and a one year high of $308.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.30.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 16.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that FedEx Corporation will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $1.45 dividend. This is a boost from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. FedEx’s payout ratio is currently 34.36%.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Director R Brad Martin sold 2,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.75, for a total transaction of $513,235.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,160,036.25. The trade was a 19.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Marvin R. Ellison sold 3,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.94, for a total transaction of $855,353.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,829,176.80. The trade was a 31.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,343 shares of company stock worth $2,228,816. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $297.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of FedEx from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of FedEx from $270.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of FedEx from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.25.

FedEx 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.