Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Kirby by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,418,000 after acquiring an additional 30,713 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Kirby by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Kirby by 27.5% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 35,353 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,328,000 after buying an additional 7,629 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Kirby by 51.2% during the third quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 48,693 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,961,000 after buying an additional 16,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Kirby by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 382,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,504,000 after buying an additional 202,272 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kirby Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:KEX opened at $102.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $106.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.36. Kirby Co. has a 52 week low of $86.02 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.