Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 230 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,902 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $4,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FDX. Norges Bank bought a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $388,787,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in FedEx during the third quarter valued at approximately $496,611,000. FMR LLC grew its position in FedEx by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,076,619,000 after acquiring an additional 916,555 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in FedEx by 33,890.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 651,597 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $166,972,000 after acquiring an additional 649,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 144.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,008,037 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $267,135,000 after purchasing an additional 595,628 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other FedEx news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total value of $794,763.39. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,507.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other FedEx news, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total value of $794,763.39. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,507.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 136,668 shares of company stock worth $37,758,773 over the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FDX opened at $263.07 on Thursday. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $213.80 and a 1-year high of $291.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $258.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.11. The company has a market capitalization of $64.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

FedEx Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com lowered FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on FedEx from $322.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price objective on FedEx from $330.00 to $334.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.33.

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.