AQR Capital Management LLC Has $55.40 Million Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 324,639 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 42,095 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $55,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth $86,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 37.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 236,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,698,000 after buying an additional 64,380 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 23.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 148,887 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,658,000 after buying an additional 23,078 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,013,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on JBHT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $148.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.20.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $129.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.79 and a twelve month high of $200.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $143.78 and its 200 day moving average is $165.75.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. 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 $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Nicholas Hobbs acquired 1,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $130.75 per share, for a total transaction of $199,916.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,847 shares in the company, valued at $12,008,995.25. This trade represents a 1.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.30% 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.