Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 183,583 J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 183,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,134,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JBHT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the 2nd 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 raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,982,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $843,937,000 after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $729,780,000 after purchasing an additional 565,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the third 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 J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,587,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,252.70. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,510,362.81. This trade represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $272.42 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $279.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.45. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a one year low of $130.12 and a one year high of $299.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JBHT. Barclays upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $261.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.30.

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.