Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Shares in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 177,215 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $18,749,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Kirby at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Kirby by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,462 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kirby by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,459 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Kirby by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,668 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC boosted its position in Kirby by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC now owns 833 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total transaction of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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Kirby Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KEX traded up $1.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $101.31. 1,172,810 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 517,936. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.18. Kirby Co. has a 52 week low of $90.91 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 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, research analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Kirby Profile

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.