National Pension Service Purchases 3,397 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 114.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,368 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 3,397 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 178 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 798 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total transaction of $318,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,002,802. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 7,644 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.91, for a total value of $2,002,040.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,281,125.62. This trade represents a 24.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,916 shares of company stock valued at $4,109,634 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $279.46 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $26.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $239.01 and a 200 day moving average of $215.18. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.12 and a 12 month high of $279.92.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on JBHT. Susquehanna upped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.17.

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.