138,830 Shares in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. $CHRW Bought by NFJ Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC invested approximately $14.22 million in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, acquiring 138,830 shares and now holding about 0.12% of the company.
• Several institutional investors, including Principal Financial Group and Amalgamated Bank, also increased their positions in C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the first quarter.
• C.H. Robinson Worldwide reported a net margin of 3.14% with a recent quarterly EPS of $1.29, exceeding analyst estimates.

NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 138,830 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $14,216,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned approximately 0.12% of C.H. Robinson Worldwide as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 252.1% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 419 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael John Short sold 6,364 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total value of $746,115.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 60,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,081,413.24. This represents a 9.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Angela K. Freeman sold 5,713 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.24, for a total transaction of $664,079.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 65,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,640,222.72. This trade represents a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,577 shares of company stock valued at $1,714,544 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $112.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 price objective (up previously from $129.00) on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.24.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CHRW traded down $1.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $126.13. 1,448,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,437,034. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.87. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.68 and a 52-week high of $131.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.03.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. C.H. Robinson Worldwide's dividend payout ratio is 56.49%.

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.