Sentry Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 867 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in FedEx by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,364 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,847,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in FedEx by 2.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 45,101 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $12,343,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in FedEx by 2.8% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 147,268 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $39,332,000 after buying an additional 4,049 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 14,047 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SFE Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 12,387 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,390,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FedEx Stock Up 1.1 %

FDX opened at $256.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $269.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $277.80. FedEx Co. has a twelve month low of $239.07 and a twelve month 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.

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 analyst estimates of $22.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FDX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on FedEx from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.87.

Insider Activity

In other FedEx news, Director Amy B. Lane acquired 333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

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.