FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Given New $340.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) had its target price hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $325.00 to $340.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the shipping service provider’s stock.

FDX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded FedEx from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BNP Paribas restated an underperform rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FedEx presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $313.09.

FedEx Stock Performance

FDX opened at $296.19 on Wednesday. FedEx has a 52-week low of $224.69 and a 52-week high of $296.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $72.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $256.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.72.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 20.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the shipping service provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total value of $703,009.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,542,999.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 117,275 shares of company stock valued at $32,177,298 in the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FDX. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,130 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,003 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,892 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,640 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 106.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 2,358 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Company 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.