Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 120,842 Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,229,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 120,842 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.06% of CSX worth $39,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSX. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CSX by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,250,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,840,117,000 after acquiring an additional 455,258 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CSX by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,906,826 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,407,087,000 after purchasing an additional 190,346 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in CSX by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $805,345,000 after purchasing an additional 299,536 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CSX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $780,194,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in CSX by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $753,507,000 after buying an additional 6,730,316 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSX opened at $27.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.04. CSX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.95 and a fifty-two week high of $37.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 0.86.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 29.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on CSX from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.20.

CSX Company Profile

CSX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides rail-based freight transportation services. The company offers rail services; and transportation of intermodal containers and trailers, as well as other transportation services, such as rail-to-truck transfers and bulk commodity operations. It also transports chemicals, agricultural and food products, minerals, automotive, forest products, fertilizers, and metals and equipment; and coal, coke, and iron ore to electricity-generating power plants, steel manufacturers, and industrial plants, as well as exports coal to deep-water port facilities.