FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Given New $249.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) had its price target reduced by Sanford C. Bernstein from $282.00 to $249.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the shipping service provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $280.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of FedEx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $337.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of FedEx from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FedEx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of FedEx from $272.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.54.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX traded down $1.05 on Friday, hitting $223.95. 1,888,309 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,852,838. FedEx has a fifty-two week low of $194.30 and a fifty-two week high of $313.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $216.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.91. The stock has a market cap of $53.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.35.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.56 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.96 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from FedEx's previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. FedEx's dividend payout ratio is 34.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,161.85. This represents a 20.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 8.87% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,489,161 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $4,994,848,000 after buying an additional 289,655 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,889,624 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $3,907,568,000 after buying an additional 734,268 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,798,797 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $1,350,686,000 after buying an additional 109,006 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,298,646 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $1,209,338,000 after buying an additional 323,115 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FedEx by 1.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,264,993 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $795,940,000 after buying an additional 43,989 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.