Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 6,664 Shares of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC significantly reduced its stake in FedEx Corporation by 80.2%, holding only 1,643 shares worth approximately $401,000 following the sale of 6,664 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own 84.47% of FedEx, with notable changes including Brighton Jones LLC increasing its holdings by 12.8% and Aviva PLC boosting its position by 68.7% in the fourth quarter.
• FedEx recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.38 to $1.45, representing a 2.7% yield and a payout ratio of 34.36%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) by 80.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,643 shares of the shipping service provider's stock after selling 6,664 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in FedEx were worth $401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 21.1% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 362 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in FedEx during the 1st quarter worth about $147,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FedEx by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in FedEx by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 160,596 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $39,150,000 after acquiring an additional 9,216 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 3,610 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.29, for a total transaction of $860,226.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,696,592.77. This represents a 18.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director R Brad Martin sold 2,123 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.75, for a total transaction of $513,235.25. Following the sale, the director owned 8,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,160,036.25. This represents a 19.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,343 shares of company stock worth $2,228,816. Company insiders own 8.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FDX. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on FedEx from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $315.00 price target on FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen raised FedEx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on FedEx from $282.00 to $249.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FedEx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.25.

FedEx Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE FDX traded up $4.91 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $222.40. 1,972,807 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,922,230. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $227.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.15. FedEx Corporation has a 12-month low of $194.29 and a 12-month high of $308.53. The firm has a market cap of $52.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.30.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The shipping service provider reported $6.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.09. FedEx had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx Corporation will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This is an increase from FedEx's previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. FedEx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.36%.

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.