Hodges Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,122 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 2,342 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $4,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,961,716,000 after purchasing an additional 59,161 shares in the last quarter. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,811,748,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in FedEx by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,667,462 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,686,738,000 after acquiring an additional 880,894 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in FedEx by 1.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $857,860,000 after acquiring an additional 35,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $732,040,000 after acquiring an additional 798,084 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FedEx Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE FDX opened at $299.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $224.69 and a 52 week high of $302.41.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.94 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 20.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. FedEx’s payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FDX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of FedEx from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,810 shares of company stock valued at $32,924,413 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

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.