Patton Fund Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 987.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,788 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $2,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $765,862,000 after purchasing an additional 84,149 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,780,000 after purchasing an additional 565,605 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $216,317,000 after purchasing an additional 82,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,587,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total value of $318,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 91,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,002,802. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total value of $426,015.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,119 shares of company stock worth $4,736,095. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JBHT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial increased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.87.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $280.30 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $263.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.12 and a twelve month high of $293.54.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.86%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.