J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lowered its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,815 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 185,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,035,000 after acquiring an additional 184,601 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,384.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 156,097 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,297,000 after acquiring an additional 149,815 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,689,000 after purchasing an additional 134,476 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 753,005 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,765,000 after purchasing an additional 93,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth $15,149,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of JBHT opened at $161.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.12 and a 12-month high of $208.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total transaction of $26,494.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 700 shares in the company, valued at $127,904. This trade represents a 17.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,545 shares of company stock worth $1,898,942 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight solutions.