Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 170 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,266 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 11.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 133,075 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $35,254,000 after acquiring an additional 13,197 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 2.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 595,122 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $157,660,000 after buying an additional 13,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skba Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 0.3% in the third quarter. Skba Capital Management LLC now owns 39,320 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $10,417,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Guy M. Erwin II sold 2,749 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.11, for a total transaction of $794,763.39. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,507.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773 over the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FedEx Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:FDX opened at $266.74 on Tuesday. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $213.80 and a 1-year high of $291.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $257.41 and a 200 day moving average of $254.05. The firm has a market cap of $65.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $279.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 11th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of FedEx from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of FedEx from $322.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Melius raised shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.33.

FedEx 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.