Gries Financial LLC Purchases 1,252 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Gries Financial LLC raised its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,780 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $2,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in FedEx by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,689,791 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,281,335,000 after purchasing an additional 67,502 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FedEx by 8.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,042,050,000 after buying an additional 314,380 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 0.7% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,699,179 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $465,031,000 after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in FedEx by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,451,576 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $397,267,000 after acquiring an additional 13,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of FDX opened at $275.34 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $281.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $234.45 and a 1-year high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $288.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John W. Dietrich bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $273.98 per share, with a total value of $273,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,484,176.66. The trade was a 12.40 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.