ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC Has $35.86 Million Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,919,992 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 234,001 shares during the quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $35,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 852,557 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,469,000 after buying an additional 22,448 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter worth about $5,584,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 256,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 12,998 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 171,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,702,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $12.77 on Monday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $14.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of -44.03 and a beta of 0.71.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.24 per share, for a total transaction of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 63,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at $13,794,722.40. This represents a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 203,750 shares of company stock worth $2,370,418. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HTLD. Barclays upped their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

About Heartland Express

Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services.