AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Lowers Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,280 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 2,182 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in FedEx were worth $16,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 473.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after buying an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $674,336,000 after acquiring an additional 578,350 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,042,050,000 after acquiring an additional 314,380 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 2,163.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $52,667,000 after purchasing an additional 183,940 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $49,445,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on FDX shares. Stephens reduced their price objective on FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Loop Capital raised shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $288.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective 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, eight have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.43.

FedEx Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FDX opened at $273.12 on Friday. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $234.45 and a 1-year high of $313.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $281.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20.

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

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Director Amy B. Lane bought 333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

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.