Blume Capital Management Inc. Sells 45 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Blume Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 44,863 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. FedEx comprises about 3.0% of Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $11,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FDX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,729,110 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,961,716,000 after buying an additional 59,161 shares during the period. Sentry LLC acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,811,748,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,076,619,000 after purchasing an additional 916,555 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 1.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $857,860,000 after buying an additional 35,085 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 13.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,004,838 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $796,042,000 after buying an additional 360,680 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FedEx stock traded up $2.89 on Thursday, hitting $260.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 144,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,675. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31. FedEx Co. has a 1 year low of $213.80 and a 1 year high of $291.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $265.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.28. The company has a market capitalization of $64.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23.

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

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,223,600.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were 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 owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.