Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 324,135 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,390,095 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 324,135 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.86% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $1,259,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $258,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,993 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter worth $91,094,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $358,510,000 after purchasing an additional 416,167 shares in the last quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 149.5% during the second quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC now owns 670,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,337,000 after buying an additional 401,937 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 178.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 428,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,562,000 after buying an additional 275,017 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBHT has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Benchmark boosted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.00.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

JBHT stock opened at $230.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $234.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 37.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 29.32%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 4,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.13, for a total transaction of $906,823.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,842,826.35. The trade was a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.25, for a total transaction of $227,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,886.75. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,316 shares of company stock valued at $6,727,749. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.