FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Stock Price Down 6% – Should You Sell?

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) shares dropped 6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $251.31 and last traded at $252.43. Approximately 770,358 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 1,584,499 shares. The stock had previously closed at $268.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised their price target on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.87.

FedEx Price Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amy B. Lane acquired 333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $276.06 per share, with a total value of $91,927.98. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total transaction of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FDX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $807,352,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $234,028,000. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,889,624 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $3,907,568,000 after buying an additional 734,268 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 473.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after buying an additional 647,926 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $145,733,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Company Profile

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.