Next Century Growth Investors LLC Has $9.04 Million Stock Holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,466 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,465 shares during the period. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $9,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,980,109 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $423,265,000 after purchasing an additional 506,491 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,201,276 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $221,541,000 after acquiring an additional 125,827 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,740,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $147,529,000 after acquiring an additional 46,436 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,885,438 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $100,004,000 after acquiring an additional 507,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,839,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:KNX opened at $39.84 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.57 and a beta of 1.16. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.69 and a 12-month high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is currently 98.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,850. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KNX. StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.94.

Knight-Swift Transportation Profile

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services in the United States and Mexico. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal. The Truckload segment provides transportation services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.