Soros Fund Management LLC Takes Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 29,473 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,292,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $807,352,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $234,028,000. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in FedEx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,889,624 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,907,568,000 after purchasing an additional 734,268 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $145,733,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 852,767 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $239,909,000 after purchasing an additional 329,170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FDX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut FedEx to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on FedEx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $337.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on FedEx from $330.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James reduced their price objective on FedEx from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on FedEx from $323.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other news, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,161.85. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FedEx stock opened at $211.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $50.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.42. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $194.30 and a fifty-two week high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $22.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. FedEx’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. FedEx’s payout ratio is presently 34.63%.

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.