US Bancorp DE Acquires 256,651 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 3,788.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 263,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 256,651 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $4,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 641,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,019,000 after purchasing an additional 44,525 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,760 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 17,179 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 4th quarter worth approximately $172,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 280,872 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,384,000 after acquiring an additional 8,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Marten Transport stock opened at $14.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.38 and a 200-day moving average of $16.39. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 41.97 and a beta of 0.83. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $14.17 and a 1-year high of $19.34.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. Research analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is 70.59%.

About Marten Transport

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United State, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry freight; and regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.