Expeditors International of Washington Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:EXPD)

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPD) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 2,521 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 810% compared to the average daily volume of 277 put options.

Insider Transactions at Expeditors International of Washington

In related news, Director Mark A. Emmert sold 8,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total value of $1,001,727.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,741,891.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark A. Emmert sold 8,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total value of $1,001,727.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,085 shares in the company, valued at $1,741,891.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Blake R. Bell sold 4,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.99, for a total value of $479,659.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 52,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,170,637.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expeditors International of Washington

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Expeditors International of Washington by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 228,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,009,000 after buying an additional 95,389 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Expeditors International of Washington by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 369,420 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,990,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Expeditors International of Washington by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 452,233 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,524,000 after purchasing an additional 13,811 shares during the period. Prudential PLC raised its position in Expeditors International of Washington by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 88,169 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,215,000 after purchasing an additional 39,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new stake in Expeditors International of Washington in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,201,000. 94.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Expeditors International of Washington from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $112.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Expeditors International of Washington from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Expeditors International of Washington from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Expeditors International of Washington from $118.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Expeditors International of Washington from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.44.

Expeditors International of Washington Price Performance

Shares of EXPD opened at $123.85 on Thursday. Expeditors International of Washington has a 1-year low of $107.03 and a 1-year high of $131.17. The company has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.87.

Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Expeditors International of Washington had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Expeditors International of Washington will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Expeditors International of Washington Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This is a boost from Expeditors International of Washington’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. Expeditors International of Washington’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.93%.

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.