Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Purchases 1,500 Shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. $CHRW

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,732 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide were worth $646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 1st quarter valued at $234,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 78.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,013,745 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $193,219,000 after purchasing an additional 884,160 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the first quarter valued at about $40,825,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 30.3% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,703,059 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $174,393,000 after buying an additional 396,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 76.3% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 705,786 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,272,000 after buying an additional 305,368 shares during the last quarter. 93.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at C.H. Robinson Worldwide

In related news, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 45,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.70, for a total value of $6,866,852.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,164,778.20. This represents a 57.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Angela K. Freeman sold 49,884 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.71, for a total value of $7,468,133.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 65,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,840,138.88. This trade represents a 43.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CHRW. UBS Group boosted their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $166.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $115.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.00.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CHRW opened at $158.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.25. The stock has a market cap of $18.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.88. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.68 and a twelve month high of $160.30.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 35.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This is a positive change from C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently 51.12%.

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.