Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Sells 350 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,945 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $2,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FedEx by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in FedEx by 143.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FDX shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $308.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark R. Allen sold 10,145 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.28, for a total value of $2,914,455.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,587,129.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 127,774 shares of company stock valued at $35,194,126 in the last quarter. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FedEx Price Performance

NYSE:FDX opened at $256.46 on Wednesday. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $224.69 and a 1-year high of $291.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.83%.

FedEx declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.