MML Investors Services LLC Purchases New Shares in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW)

MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,690 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,219 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $436,648,000 after acquiring an additional 142,116 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 2,259.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,557,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,449,367 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,528,787 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $222,837,000 after buying an additional 526,872 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 12.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,405,718 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $155,149,000 after buying an additional 153,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 2.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,315,488 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $115,921,000 after acquiring an additional 34,632 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael John Short sold 10,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.87, for a total transaction of $1,143,526.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,794,507.41. This represents a 12.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CHRW. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.88.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Price Performance

NASDAQ CHRW opened at $104.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.83. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.00 and a 12 month high of $114.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $107.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 30.38%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.81%.

About C.H. Robinson Worldwide

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services, and related logistics and supply chain services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: North American Surface Transportation and Global Forwarding. The company offers transportation and logistics services, such as truckload, less than truckload transportation brokerage services, which include the shipment of single or multiple pallets of freight; intermodal transportation that comprises the shipment service of freight in containers or trailers by a combination of truck and rail; and non-vessel operating common carrier and freight forwarding services, as well as organizes air shipments and provides door-to-door services.