Empirical Asset Management LLC Sells 327 Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Empirical Asset Management LLC decreased its position in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,681 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in ArcBest by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 583,762 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,509,000 after buying an additional 150,467 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 4.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 525,471 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,267,000 after purchasing an additional 20,115 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of ArcBest by 158.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 191,987 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,558,000 after purchasing an additional 117,774 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in ArcBest by 9.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 165,175 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,537,000 after purchasing an additional 14,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in ArcBest by 0.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 150,742 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on ARCB shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on ArcBest from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America lowered their price target on ArcBest from $102.00 to $99.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on ArcBest from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of ArcBest from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.92.

ArcBest Stock Up 0.3 %

ArcBest stock opened at $106.31 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $105.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46. ArcBest Co. has a twelve month low of $86.93 and a twelve month high of $153.60.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. ArcBest had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 2.96%. ArcBest’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that ArcBest Co. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ArcBest news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $103.93 per share, for a total transaction of $103,930.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,344.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About ArcBest

ArcBest Corporation, an integrated logistics company, engages in the provision of ground, air, and ocean transportation solutions. It operates through two segments: Asset-Based and Asset-Light. The Asset-Based segment provides less-than-truckload (LTL) services, that transports general commodities, such as food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, non-bulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery, and miscellaneous manufactured products.