Northern Trust Corp Has $663.10 Million Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,357,017 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 273,478 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in FedEx were worth $663,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,604 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 7,925 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,365 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,916,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 3,400 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 5,897 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other news, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,499,050.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital lowered FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on FedEx from $364.00 to $354.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on FedEx from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on FedEx from $337.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

FedEx Price Performance

NYSE:FDX opened at $211.48 on Tuesday. 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 $232.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.42. The company 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. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $194.30 and a 52-week high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.96 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. FedEx’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.63%.

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.