Aviance Capital Partners LLC Buys 913 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,851 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $2,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $1,811,748,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $700,291,000. Capital International Investors grew 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 buying an additional 880,894 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew 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 buying an additional 798,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in FedEx by 33,890.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 651,597 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $166,972,000 after buying an additional 649,680 shares in the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Raymond James cut their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on FedEx from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.00.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 2,535 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.72, for a total transaction of $747,115.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,745 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,646.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,810 shares of company stock valued at $32,924,413. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Trading Up 0.0 %

FDX traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $299.94. 336,026 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,940,042. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $258.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.32. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $224.69 and a 52 week high of $302.41.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The firm had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 20.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

FedEx announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.