Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Cuts Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 768 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in FedEx by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,961,716,000 after acquiring an additional 59,161 shares during the period. Sentry LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,811,748,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,667,462 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,686,738,000 after acquiring an additional 880,894 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $857,860,000 after acquiring an additional 35,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,040,000 after acquiring an additional 798,084 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James cut their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on FedEx from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total value of $703,009.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,735,192.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total transaction of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,614 shares in the company, valued at $23,542,999.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total value of $703,009.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 117,275 shares of company stock valued at $32,177,298. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

FedEx Price Performance

FedEx stock opened at $296.19 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $256.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.72. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $224.69 and a 52 week high of $296.86.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 4.94%. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 20.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

FedEx announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.