BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 18.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 208,068 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 47,796 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $56,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in FedEx during the first quarter valued at about $220,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $123,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in FedEx by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,367 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in FedEx by 0.9% during the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,808 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 8.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,056,561 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $306,129,000 after purchasing an additional 82,201 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE FDX opened at $295.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $72.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $276.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.14. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $234.45 and a fifty-two week high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). The firm had revenue of $21.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 34.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FDX. Daiwa America downgraded shares of FedEx from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays increased their target price on FedEx from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FedEx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.04.

FedEx Profile

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.