J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Position Trimmed by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 185,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,035,000 after acquiring an additional 184,601 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,689,000 after acquiring an additional 134,476 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter valued at $15,149,000. Finally, Scopia Capital Management LP purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at about $12,630,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $194,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBHT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.80.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $152.02 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.34 and a 1 year high of $200.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. 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.