Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) COO Sells $1,729,881.99 in Stock

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) COO Christian G. O’neil sold 14,031 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.29, for a total transaction of $1,729,881.99. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 12,746 shares in the company, valued at $1,571,454.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Kirby Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE KEX traded up $4.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $127.28. The company had a trading volume of 178,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,336. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.67. The stock has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.17. Kirby Co. has a 52-week low of $72.11 and a 52-week high of $130.90.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.65 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Kirby Co. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,097,723 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $478,549,000 after acquiring an additional 81,808 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,828,758 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $143,521,000 after acquiring an additional 63,611 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,401,844 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $133,624,000 after acquiring an additional 54,755 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 955,587 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $91,086,000 after acquiring an additional 90,586 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 896,257 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $85,432,000 after acquiring an additional 157,880 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.80.

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.