Bill Gates Portfolio Stock List: Top 5 Stocks

4. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57    

FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. On November 9, FedEx Corporation noted that it has reduced the frequency of flights and parked some of its planes in response to weaker-than-anticipated demand for package deliveries, particularly in Asia. Securities filings show that Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust owned more than 1.5 million shares in the company at the end of the third quarter of 2022 worth over $227 million, representing 0.67% of the portfolio. 

On October 24, Jefferies analyst Stephanie Moore initiated coverage of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) stock with a Hold rating and $170 price target, noting that the stock’s valuation is well below its historical average.

At the end of the third quarter of 2022, 57 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $1.4 billion in FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), compared to 63 in the preceding quarter worth $1.8 billion.

In its Q3 2022 investor letter, Artisan Partners, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Earnings results at FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), a global shipping and logistics firm, disappointed due to slowing volumes—principally in its Express segment, which resulted in negative operating leverage—in addition to continued cost pressures. The Express business has been affected by trade disruptions in Asia from China’s COVID lockdowns, as well as the mix of global consumer spending trending back toward services and away from goods—a normalization of pandemic-driven consumer behavior. A key question for investors is how much of this demand slowdown is idiosyncratic and therefore less likely to repeat and how much is the start of a possible cyclical slowdown. To counter these headwinds, FedEx is looking to achieve cost reductions while it continues to implement multi-year structural cost reduction initiatives focused on technology investments and efficiency gains. Given a mixed track record and the recent earnings miss, there is a high degree of skepticism embedded in the current stock price as it sells for less than 8X our estimate of normalized earnings. While operating results can be choppy, the longer-term business economics are highly favorable given the global shipping industry’s consolidated structure and massive barriers to entry that afford operators with pricing power to counter cost inflation and earn respectable returns on capital over the business cycle.”