FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Price Target Increased to $335.00 by Analysts at Argus

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) had its price objective upped by Argus from $325.00 to $335.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the shipping service provider’s stock.

FDX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $333.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $314.00.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FDX opened at $295.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $72.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. FedEx has a twelve month low of $224.69 and a twelve month high of $296.86. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $256.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.00.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that FedEx will post 20.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors 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 is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 32.04%.

FedEx announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the 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 directly owns 6,294 shares in the company, valued at $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 117,275 shares of company stock valued at $32,177,298. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in FedEx by 143.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

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.