Clearbridge Investments LLC Trims Position in XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,657,361 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 95,007 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 2.28% of XPO worth $348,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of XPO in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in XPO during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in XPO by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 318 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of XPO by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of XPO during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 97.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XPO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded XPO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Vertical Research raised shares of XPO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of XPO from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Benchmark raised their target price on XPO from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on XPO from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $155.37.

XPO Stock Performance

NYSE:XPO opened at $107.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. XPO, Inc. has a 52 week low of $97.03 and a 52 week high of $161.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.77.

XPO (NYSE:XPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.21. XPO had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 30.36%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that XPO, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

XPO declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 27th that allows the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at XPO

In other XPO news, COO David J. Bates acquired 1,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.16 per share, with a total value of $199,580.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 21,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,240,612.96. This trade represents a 9.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

XPO Company Profile

XPO, Inc provides freight transportation services in the United States, rest of North America, France, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, North American LTL and European Transportation. The North American LTL segment provides customers with less-than-truckload (LTL) services, such as geographic density and day-definite domestic services.