Sigma Planning Corp Decreases Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 69.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,504 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 5,748 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in FedEx were worth $633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 143.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 123.3% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 134 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.33.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE:FDX opened at $266.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.80 and a fifty-two week high of $291.27. The stock has a market cap of $65.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.36.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

FedEx declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the shipping service provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 6,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.02, for a total value of $1,769,882.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,277.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.73% 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.