Markel Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,500 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $58,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. bLong Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the 4th quarter worth $391,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the third quarter valued at $3,405,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at $461,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in FedEx by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,329 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at $26,855,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,984,589.98. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total transaction of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of FedEx in a research report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $337.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target 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 dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.58.

FedEx Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $246.40 on Tuesday. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $242.92 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.74. The firm has a market cap of $59.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

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.