Bank of Nova Scotia Has $8.65 Million Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 63.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,732 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 52,809 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in FedEx were worth $8,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FDX. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx in the third quarter worth $465,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in FedEx by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 83,811 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $22,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,083 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,405,000. Finally, Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of FedEx by 8.7% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 1,120 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE FDX opened at $207.46 on Friday. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $194.30 and a 12-month high of $313.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $49.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.24.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.96 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. FedEx’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.63%.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,161.85. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FDX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on FedEx from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BNP Paribas raised FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of FedEx from $337.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $331.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.63.

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.