Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,226 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 2,644 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $71,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FDX. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in FedEx by 2.0% in the third quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,948 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of FedEx by 3.0% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,308 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,661 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDX has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of FedEx from $368.00 to $364.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on FedEx from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.87.

FedEx Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE FDX opened at $267.02 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $271.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.45. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $235.32 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $64.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.18.

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

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

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