Empirical Finance LLC Sells 103 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,941 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in FedEx by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,689,791 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,281,335,000 after acquiring an additional 67,502 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 8.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,042,050,000 after purchasing an additional 314,380 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in FedEx by 0.7% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,699,179 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $465,031,000 after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in FedEx by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,451,576 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $397,267,000 after purchasing an additional 13,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Sentry LLC now owns 1,217,117 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $342,412,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FDX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Loop Capital lowered FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $365.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In related news, Director Amy B. Lane acquired 333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 333 shares in the company, valued at $91,927.98. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at $30,984,589.98. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $256.01 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $274.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.36. The firm has a market cap of $61.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. FedEx Co. has a 12 month low of $234.45 and a 12 month high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

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.