Nicholas Company Inc. Sells 81,860 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Nicholas Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315,135 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 81,860 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of Marten Transport worth $5,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 79.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 220,314 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,893,000 after buying an additional 97,270 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in Marten Transport during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,186,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 487,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,549,000 after acquiring an additional 88,891 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,893,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,250,000 after acquiring an additional 37,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 6,267,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,322,000 after acquiring an additional 144,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

MRTN stock opened at $15.21 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $9.35 and a fifty-two week high of $18.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.02. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.47 and a beta of 0.95.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 1.65%. The firm had revenue of $223.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRTN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Marten Transport Profile

Marten Transport, Inc is a North American transportation services provider offering temperature-controlled and dry van truckload services. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Mondovi, Wisconsin, the company specializes in full truckload, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal and port drayage solutions. Its core focus on refrigerated and produce freight has made it a key partner for food manufacturers, retailers and other shippers requiring strict temperature management.

The company maintains a modern fleet of tractors and trailers equipped with advanced telematics, electronic logging devices and continuous temperature monitoring.