Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,050 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FDX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in FedEx by 473.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 8.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,042,050,000 after purchasing an additional 314,380 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in FedEx by 2,163.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $52,667,000 after buying an additional 183,940 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,445,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in FedEx by 77.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 368,107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $101,022,000 after buying an additional 161,022 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $273.12 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. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $234.45 and a 12-month high of $313.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $281.64 and its 200-day moving average is $283.27.

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

FedEx Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total transaction of $1,100,271.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,984,589.98. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FedEx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.43.

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.