Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 250 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,558 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kirby by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,015,915 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $498,118,000 after purchasing an additional 64,420 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,313,776 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $370,370,000 after acquiring an additional 14,447 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Kirby by 923.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,248,727 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $273,406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,833,471 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Kirby by 30.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,100,068 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $173,886,000 after acquiring an additional 495,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Kirby by 3.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,022,078 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $145,974,000 after purchasing an additional 59,862 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.60, for a total transaction of $145,508.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Christian G. O’neil sold 8,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.15, for a total transaction of $765,839.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,369,126.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.60, for a total transaction of $145,508.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,418 shares of company stock valued at $4,932,521 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of KEX stock opened at $95.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.68. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.42 and a fifty-two week high of $101.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.97.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.01. Kirby had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 7.12%. The company had revenue of $799.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Kirby’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KEX. StockNews.com raised Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

Kirby Profile

Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii.