Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $774,000 Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $163,237,000 after buying an additional 503,324 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 185,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,035,000 after acquiring an additional 184,601 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,689,000 after acquiring an additional 134,476 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $15,149,000. Finally, Scopia Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $12,630,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $152.02 on Tuesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a one year low of $144.34 and a one year high of $200.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $164.85 and its 200-day moving average is $172.69.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The company 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on JBHT shares. Susquehanna raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America dropped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.80.

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.