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

Wharton Business Group LLC lowered its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 67.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,117 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 19,310 shares during the quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 24.5% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 29,302 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,838,000 after purchasing an additional 5,767 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,946,628,000 after purchasing an additional 25,109 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin Bracy sold 1,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.87, for a total transaction of $306,450.18. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,563,579.45. This represents a 16.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $275,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,275. This trade represents a 10.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,314 shares of company stock worth $1,534,052 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.2 %

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $182.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.12 and a fifty-two week high of $219.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $175.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.14.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.65%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. Analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.27%.

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.