Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Takes Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 728 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 1,056,061 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in FedEx by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,558,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,622 shares in the last quarter. Sentry LLC bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $1,811,748,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in FedEx by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $732,040,000 after purchasing an additional 798,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter worth about $700,291,000. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total value of $607,821.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,189,042.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other FedEx news, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total value of $607,821.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,189,042.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total value of $2,611,688.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,797,974.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,944 shares of company stock worth $9,882,355 over the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FedEx Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE FDX opened at $292.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $71.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.18. FedEx Co. has a one year low of $224.69 and a one year high of $313.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $277.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.04.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 20.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up previously from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of FedEx from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.00.

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.