Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 14,951 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.73% of Marten Transport worth $24,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRTN. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in Marten Transport by 78.0% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,323,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,673 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Marten Transport by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,881,000 after purchasing an additional 162,924 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 692,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,775,000 after buying an additional 41,505 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,334,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 940,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,646,000 after buying an additional 38,990 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marten Transport news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.81 per share, with a total value of $158,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. This trade represents a 6.83 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marten Transport Price Performance

MRTN opened at $15.60 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $15.33 and a 1-year high of $21.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.14 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.19.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $237.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.00 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 4.41%. Research analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRTN shares. StockNews.com lowered Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

About Marten Transport

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United State, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry freight; and regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.