Sound Shore Management Inc. CT Cuts Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Sound Shore Management Inc. CT lowered its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,858 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 8,184 shares during the quarter. FedEx accounts for 2.6% of Sound Shore Management Inc. CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT owned 0.11% of FedEx worth $78,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,558,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,622 shares in the last quarter. Sentry LLC acquired a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $307,007,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $5,756,602,000 after buying an additional 1,056,061 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in shares of FedEx by 38.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,258,579 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $654,401,000 after acquiring an additional 684,679 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on FDX shares. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on FedEx from $305.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. HSBC lowered FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna reduced their price target on FedEx from $345.00 to $330.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of FedEx from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of FedEx from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, CAO Guy M. Erwin II sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.24, for a total value of $34,711.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 930 shares in the company, valued at $278,293.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other FedEx news, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total value of $607,821.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,189,042.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Guy M. Erwin II sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.24, for a total value of $34,711.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,293.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,944 shares of company stock worth $9,882,355 in the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FedEx Stock Down 15.2 %

FDX stock opened at $254.63 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $292.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.85. 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 1-year low of $224.69 and a 1-year high of $313.84. The firm has a market cap of $62.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The business had revenue of $21.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.55 EPS. FedEx’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 20.82 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

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.