First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW - Free Report) by 163.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,206,207 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 748,661 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.02% of C.H. Robinson Worldwide worth $124,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $810,000. Northstar Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth approximately $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,411,891 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $155,830,000 after purchasing an additional 36,769 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth $211,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the 4th quarter worth $543,000. 93.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on CHRW shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna cut their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $127.00 to $117.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $133.00 to $131.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $129.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 5,016 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $499,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,586 shares in the company, valued at $3,444,765.60. This trade represents a 12.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Angela K. Freeman sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.39, for a total value of $803,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,732,740.53. The trade was a 9.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Price Performance

CHRW traded down $2.28 on Friday, reaching $89.75. 1,083,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,404,703. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.69 and a twelve month high of $114.82. The stock has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $96.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.57.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a return on equity of 34.53% and a net margin of 2.63%. Sell-side analysts expect that C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. C.H. Robinson Worldwide's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.42%.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Company Profile

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.