Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in FedEx Corporation $FDX

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its stake in FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,775 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 1,737 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $7,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 11,770 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 16,936 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $4,892,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in FedEx by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,467 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,023,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in FedEx by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its position in FedEx by 579.3% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 197 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In related news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 16,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.47, for a total value of $6,164,087.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,070.44. The trade was a 60.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kawal Preet sold 4,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.89, for a total value of $1,802,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 10,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,029,499.17. The trade was a 30.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 48,104 shares of company stock worth $17,599,006 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered FedEx from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $401.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of FedEx from $427.00 to $423.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FedEx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.04.

FedEx Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of FDX opened at $378.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.29. FedEx Corporation has a 12-month low of $214.35 and a 12-month high of $404.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $370.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $323.04.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The shipping service provider reported $5.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $1.13. The firm had revenue of $24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.44 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that FedEx Corporation will post 19.72 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. FedEx’s payout ratio is presently 30.87%.

FedEx Company Profile

FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) is a global logistics and courier company headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded by Frederick W. Smith in 1971 and beginning operations in the early 1970s, the company pioneered overnight express shipping and has since expanded into a diversified portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and supply-chain services. FedEx operates an integrated air-and-ground network that moves parcels, freight and documents for businesses and consumers worldwide.

FedEx’s core operating segments include express parcel delivery via its FedEx Express division, domestic and residential parcel delivery through FedEx Ground, less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services, and logistics and supply-chain management solutions.