New York Life Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,224 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $9,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 143.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 123.3% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 134 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FDX. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on FedEx from $346.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 11th. Finally, Melius Research raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.33.

FedEx Price Performance

FedEx stock opened at $262.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $64.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. FedEx Co. has a 52 week low of $213.80 and a 52 week high of $291.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $263.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.81.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other FedEx news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total transaction of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,223,600.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 6,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.02, for a total value of $1,769,882.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,277.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,223,600.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773 over the last ninety days. 8.73% 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.