Wharton Business Group LLC Trims Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Wharton Business Group LLC reduced its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 185,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,035,000 after buying an additional 184,601 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,384.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 156,097 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,297,000 after acquiring an additional 149,815 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,689,000 after acquiring an additional 134,476 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14.1% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 753,005 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $129,765,000 after purchasing an additional 93,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter worth approximately $15,149,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total value of $26,494.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,904. This represents a 17.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $167.71 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $172.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $16.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $214.39.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS 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 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on JBHT shares. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.11.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.