Blue Trust Inc. Sells 246 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 519 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 246 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Kirby were worth $55,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $204,154,000 after buying an additional 12,337 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kirby by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $117,724,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Kirby by 27.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,052 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $85,585,000 after acquiring an additional 152,146 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 68.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 477,233 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $58,428,000 after acquiring an additional 194,410 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kirby by 112.0% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 382,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,504,000 after purchasing an additional 202,272 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KEX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,697.45. This trade represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kirby Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KEX opened at $100.84 on Wednesday. Kirby Co. has a 12-month low of $86.02 and a 12-month high of $132.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.19.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. On average, research analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Kirby

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.