Raymond James Trims FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Target Price to $300.00

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) had its target price decreased by Raymond James from $325.00 to $300.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the shipping service provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on FDX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on FedEx from $301.00 to $296.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on FedEx from $346.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $314.00.

FedEx Price Performance

NYSE:FDX opened at $295.47 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. FedEx has a 52-week low of $224.69 and a 52-week high of $296.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $256.80 and a 200 day moving average of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that FedEx will post 20.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in 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 often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 32.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related 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 value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 117,275 shares of company stock worth $32,177,298. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,811,748,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter worth $700,291,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 32.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,558,718,000 after buying an additional 2,163,622 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in FedEx by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $5,756,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,061 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,040,000 after purchasing an additional 798,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

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.