Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Invests $898,000 in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 3,104 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JBHT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth $1,833,602,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,982,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $843,937,000 after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,780,000 after purchasing an additional 565,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,317,000 after purchasing an additional 82,939 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total value of $426,015.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,510,362.81. The trade was a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 790 shares in the company, valued at $225,252.70. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on JBHT shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $248.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, May 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $259.88 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $278.11 and a 200-day moving average of $251.68. The company has a market capitalization of $24.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.12 and a 1 year high of $299.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.50%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.