Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on FedEx (NYSE:FDX)

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 23,166 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 21% compared to the average volume of 19,084 call options.

FedEx Price Performance

FedEx stock opened at $275.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $282.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28. FedEx has a 1 year low of $234.45 and a 1 year high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The business had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s payout ratio is 34.05%.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FDX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in FedEx by 473.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,147,540,000 after purchasing an additional 647,926 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in FedEx by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $674,336,000 after acquiring an additional 578,350 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 2,163.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $52,667,000 after purchasing an additional 183,940 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its position in FedEx by 77.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 368,107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $101,022,000 after purchasing an additional 161,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FDX. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of FedEx from $347.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on FedEx from $350.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.68.

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.