J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Insider Bradley Hicks Sells 4,028 Shares of Stock

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) insider Bradley Hicks sold 4,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.13, for a total transaction of $906,823.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,842,826.35. This trade represents a 11.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT traded up $7.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $228.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,979,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,158,416. The company has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.64. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $229.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 28.66%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after purchasing an additional 272,594 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 77.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,189,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $426,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,723 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $358,510,000 after buying an additional 416,167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $296,383,000 after buying an additional 11,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased 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 worth $216,317,000 after buying an additional 82,939 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $176.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $201.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.05.

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.