Birch Capital Management LLC Sells 3,613 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Birch Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 41.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,032 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 3,613 shares during the period. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $1,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,809 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,146 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 20,289 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $5,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 2,635 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Stock Performance

FDX traded up $1.14 on Friday, reaching $253.66. 3,145,207 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,151,497. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $256.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.91. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $224.40 and a fifty-two week high of $291.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.16.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 17.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This is a boost from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

FedEx announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FDX shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FedEx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,223,600.93. 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 in the last quarter. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.