Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 398 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $8,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of JBHT. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,374,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $581,567,000 after purchasing an additional 22,563 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $566,944,000 after buying an additional 19,826 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $163,237,000 after buying an additional 503,324 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 790,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $134,828,000 after acquiring an additional 37,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 641,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,524,000 after acquiring an additional 8,997 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve 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 $184.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,881,282.74. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This trade represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 3.1 %

JBHT stock opened at $146.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.28 and its 200 day moving average is $172.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.34 and a 12 month high of $200.40.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.