Consolidated Planning Corp Increases Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Consolidated Planning Corp boosted its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,243 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 567 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in FedEx were worth $4,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 143.2% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 123.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 134 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the 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 sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 in the last quarter. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on FDX. Barclays upped their target price on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.33.

FedEx Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FDX traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $265.84. The stock had a trading volume of 958,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,517,622. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $65.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.21. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $213.80 and a 12-month high of $291.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $262.17 and its 200-day moving average is $254.51.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 EPS for the current year.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

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.