175 Shares in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 175 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 34,939 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,963,000 after acquiring an additional 16,339 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 511,407 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $87,277,000 after acquiring an additional 9,935 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 898 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 6,105 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $161.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $171.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.77. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $208.69. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 1.09%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total transaction of $26,494.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,904. This trade represents a 17.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,545 shares of company stock worth $1,898,942 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.11.

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.