Raymond James Upgrades C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) to Outperform

Raymond James upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $123.00 price objective on the transportation company's stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CHRW. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $112.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.35.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CHRW traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 849,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 809,268. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a 12-month low of $65.00 and a 12-month high of $114.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.62 and a 200-day moving average of $101.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 30.38%. The business had revenue of $4.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that C.H. Robinson Worldwide will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.81%.

Insider Transactions at C.H. Robinson Worldwide

In related news, insider Michael John Short sold 10,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.87, for a total value of $1,143,526.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,794,507.41. This represents a 12.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 2,032 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.81, for a total transaction of $210,941.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,578,226.89. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On C.H. Robinson Worldwide

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 4,229.4% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,208 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 1.3% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 49,330 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 12.0% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,812 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.15% of the company's stock.

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.