C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. $CHRW Position Raised by KBC Group NV

Key Points

• C.H. Robinson: KBC Group NV increased its stake by 8.9% to 214,741 shares (about $34.52M), representing roughly 0.18% ownership; institutional investors own 93.15% of the stock.
• The company beat quarterly EPS expectations ($1.23 vs. $1.12) even as revenue fell 6.5% to $3.91B; analysts have a collective "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $186.43.
• Insider activity shows net selling last quarter (17,796 shares sold vs. 2,422 bought), insiders now own 0.37%; the company pays a $0.63 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.52, ~1.4% yield).

KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 214,741 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,594 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.18% of C.H. Robinson Worldwide worth $34,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CHRW. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the third quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Mairs & Power Inc. raised its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.7% during the third quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 869,738 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $115,153,000 after buying an additional 6,188 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the third quarter worth approximately $937,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 8,726.0% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 17,652 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,341,000 after buying an additional 17,452 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 11,774 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,559,000 after buying an additional 5,634 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 2,849 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.20, for a total transaction of $553,275.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,466,535.80. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Arun Rajan acquired 605 shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $167.11 per share, with a total value of $101,101.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 133,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,335,254.16. This represents a 0.45% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 2,422 shares of company stock valued at $400,801 and sold 17,796 shares valued at $3,555,415. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHRW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America decreased their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $225.00 to $219.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Evercore raised their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $196.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, C.H. Robinson Worldwide currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $186.43.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Performance

CHRW opened at $181.61 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $21.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.93. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.58 and a 1-year high of $203.34.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.11. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 3.62%.The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

About C.H. Robinson Worldwide

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc is a third-party logistics provider founded in 1905 and headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Originally established as a produce brokerage firm, the company has since expanded its offerings to become one of the world's largest freight and logistics intermediaries. C.H. Robinson leverages a global network of transportation providers, technology platforms, and in-house expertise to connect shippers and carriers across multiple modes of transportation.

The company's primary services include truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), intermodal, air and ocean freight, and managed transportation solutions.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CHRW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.