Short Interest in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Rises By 5.9%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the August 15th total of 2,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total transaction of $607,821.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,189,042.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total transaction of $607,821.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,189,042.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total value of $4,714,624.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,634,640.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,944 shares of company stock worth $9,882,355 over the last ninety days. 8.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in FedEx by 93.7% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,741 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the 2nd quarter worth $10,018,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 3,087 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 148.7% in the 2nd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 5,293 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,587,000 after buying an additional 3,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariadne Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the 2nd quarter worth $103,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FDX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on FedEx from $339.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up previously from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.67.

FedEx Stock Up 1.6 %

FDX stock traded up $4.73 on Tuesday, reaching $297.36. 1,328,596 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,758,416. FedEx has a one year low of $224.69 and a one year high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $73.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.45.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 20.82 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.04%.

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.