Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 30,785 Shares of Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPD)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPD) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,486 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 30,785 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Expeditors International of Washington were worth $23,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EXPD. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Expeditors International of Washington during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expeditors International of Washington during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Expeditors International of Washington during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Expeditors International of Washington in the second quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Expeditors International of Washington in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXPD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Expeditors International of Washington from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Expeditors International of Washington from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Expeditors International of Washington from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.44.

Expeditors International of Washington Stock Performance

EXPD stock opened at $112.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.97. Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. has a 52-week low of $111.20 and a 52-week high of $131.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.99.

Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The transportation company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. Expeditors International of Washington had a return on equity of 32.12% and a net margin of 7.39%. Expeditors International of Washington’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expeditors International of Washington Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Expeditors International of Washington’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.46%.

Insider Activity at Expeditors International of Washington

In other news, Director Robert Paul Carlile sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.11, for a total transaction of $363,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,662 shares in the company, valued at $1,170,164.82. This trade represents a 23.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Expeditors International of Washington

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides logistics services worldwide. The company offers airfreight services, such as air freight consolidation and forwarding; ocean freight and ocean services, including ocean freight consolidation, direct ocean forwarding, and order management; customs brokerage, import, intra-continental ground transportation and delivery, and warehousing and distribution services; and customs clearance, purchase order management, vendor consolidation, time-definite transportation services, temperature-controlled transit, cargo insurance, specialized cargo monitoring and tracking, and other supply chain solutions.