4,891 Shares in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Acquired by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,891 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $204,154,000 after buying an additional 12,337 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $117,724,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 27.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,052 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $85,585,000 after acquiring an additional 152,146 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kirby by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 525,708 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $55,620,000 after acquiring an additional 48,475 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Kirby by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,911,000 after purchasing an additional 10,486 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KEX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total transaction of $133,866.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE:KEX opened at $101.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $92.13 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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.