Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 6,270 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 118.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,571 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,270 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,578,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 28.2% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $566,944,000 after purchasing an additional 19,826 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 553,698 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $95,419,000 after purchasing an additional 12,040 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 190,689 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JBHT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT stock opened at $167.71 on Monday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.12 and a 52 week high of $214.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,092,976.08. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,545 shares of company stock worth $1,898,942. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.