Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Makes New $868,000 Investment in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. $ODFL

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,534 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ODFL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 2.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,252,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,273,546,000 after purchasing an additional 494,674 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 21.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,366,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $614,764,000 after buying an additional 776,004 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,544,588 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $499,007,000 after buying an additional 622,275 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $371,961,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,599,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman David S. Congdon sold 52,000 shares of Old Dominion Freight Line stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.77, for a total transaction of $10,128,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 712,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,832,056. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Earl E. Congdon sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.13, for a total transaction of $4,903,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,162,113 shares in the company, valued at $424,055,222.69. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,134 shares of company stock valued at $15,640,132. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $180.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $167.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Old Dominion Freight Line presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.08.

Old Dominion Freight Line Price Performance

NASDAQ:ODFL opened at $187.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.70. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.01 and a 1 year high of $221.63.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The transportation company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Old Dominion Freight Line had a return on equity of 24.03% and a net margin of 18.62%.The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Old Dominion Freight Line’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.02%.

Old Dominion Freight Line Company Profile

Old Dominion Freight Line is a U.S.-based less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation company that provides regional, inter-regional and national freight services. Founded in 1934 and headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina, the company has grown from a regional carrier into a national freight network, operating a broad system of service centers and terminals to move shipments for shippers of varying sizes and industries.

The company’s core business is LTL trucking, offering scheduled pickup and delivery for palletized freight that does not require a full truckload.