By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter worth $1,578,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 145,850.0% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 2,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,917 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 69,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,810,000 after purchasing an additional 25,034 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
JBHT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.95.
Read Our Latest Report on JBHT
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 5.2 %
Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $134.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.72. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.05 and a 52-week high of $200.40. 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 (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.65%.
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.
Read More
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JBHT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for J.B. Hunt Transport Services Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for J.B. Hunt Transport Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.