Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 1,881 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,308 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,881 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $2,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Kirby by 420.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Kirby during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Kirby during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KEX. StockNews.com downgraded Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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, Kirby currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Kirby Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KEX opened at $97.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $106.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.40. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.02 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21. The company has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current 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.