New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $107.82 Million Stock Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 426,226 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 24,812 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in FedEx were worth $107,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in FedEx by 143.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in FedEx by 123.3% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 134 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,668 shares of company stock valued at $37,758,773 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on FDX. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of FedEx from $291.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on FedEx from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 11th. One 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.com, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.33.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX stock traded up $2.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $272.49. The stock had a trading volume of 340,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,979. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $259.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. FedEx Co. has a 12 month low of $213.80 and a 12 month high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 17.67 EPS for the current year.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the shipping service provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

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.