CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Purchases 32,438 Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 20.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 187,424 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,438 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in FedEx were worth $54,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 5.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Sentry LLC bought a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,811,748,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,667,462 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,686,738,000 after buying an additional 880,894 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in shares of FedEx by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $732,040,000 after acquiring an additional 798,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter worth $700,291,000. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on FDX shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on FedEx from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on FedEx from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.00.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FDX traded down $2.52 on Wednesday, hitting $298.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,530,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,651. The stock has a market cap of $72.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $271.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.72. FedEx Co. has a 1-year low of $224.69 and a 1-year high of $313.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.94 EPS. Analysts expect that FedEx Co. will post 20.94 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This is a boost from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.04%.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total transaction of $2,611,688.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,797,974.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other FedEx news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total transaction of $4,714,624.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total transaction of $2,611,688.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,797,974.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,944 shares of company stock worth $9,882,355 in the last ninety days. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.