North Growth Management Ltd. Cuts Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

North Growth Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,000 shares of the shipping service provider's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. FedEx comprises about 2.1% of North Growth Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. North Growth Management Ltd.'s holdings in FedEx were worth $9,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in FedEx by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,339 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $4,133,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 141.3% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,872 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $7,304,000 after purchasing an additional 16,909 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in FedEx by 104.1% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 11,401 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 5,816 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in FedEx by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 399,031 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $100,943,000 after purchasing an additional 4,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,573,900 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $398,149,000 after purchasing an additional 82,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of FedEx in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on FedEx from $306.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $301.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In related news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, 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 transaction of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773. Company insiders own 8.73% of the company's stock.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE:FDX traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $266.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,036,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,076. The firm has a market cap of $65.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.80 and a fifty-two week high of $291.27. The firm's 50 day moving average is $265.93 and its 200-day moving average is $255.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.41 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 17.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. FedEx's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

FedEx declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.