Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 726 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,345 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $4,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 88 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of FedEx by 177.5% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 111 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total value of $713,371.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,984,589.98. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amy B. Lane acquired 333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,927.98. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

FDX stock opened at $275.11 on Tuesday. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $234.45 and a one year high of $313.84. The firm has a market cap of $66.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $22 billion during 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%. FedEx’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

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.