Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,345 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 726 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $4,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corundum Group Inc. grew its position in shares of FedEx by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 5,694 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,894 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in FedEx by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,208 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,278,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of FedEx by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 434 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Kelly Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $4,513,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John W. Dietrich acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $273.98 per share, for a total transaction of $273,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares in the company, valued at $2,484,176.66. This represents a 12.40 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $275.11 on Tuesday. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $234.45 and a 1 year high of $313.84. The firm has a market cap of $66.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $283.48 and a 200 day moving average of $283.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

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. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens reduced their target price on FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.61.

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.