Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Trims Stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,155 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 82 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $7,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% in 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. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 32.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,163,622 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in FedEx by 43.5% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,258,579 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $654,401,000 after buying an additional 684,679 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in FedEx by 34.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $674,336,000 after buying an additional 578,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in FedEx by 5.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,182,504 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $654,312,000 after buying an additional 121,240 shares in the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on FedEx from $333.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on FedEx from $347.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on FedEx from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on FedEx from $333.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.17.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $275.13. 97,310 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,823,018. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $278.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.86. The stock has a market cap of $67.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.17. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $229.07 and a fifty-two week high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). The company had revenue of $21.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 4.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.55 EPS. Research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.05%.

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.