Waddell & Associates LLC Takes Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Waddell & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,290 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.2% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,829 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,883,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890 shares during the last quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC now owns 88,061 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,815,000 after acquiring an additional 9,345 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter worth $3,627,000. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $433,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 145.6% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 21,689 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,910,000 after acquiring an additional 12,857 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $219.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.88 billion, a PE ratio of 35.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.38. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $234.82.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is presently 29.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on JBHT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.76, for a total value of $1,977,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 10,736 shares in the company, valued at $2,359,343.36. This represents a 45.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total value of $579,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,957.20. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 32,316 shares of company stock worth $6,727,749 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

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.