Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 84 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,374,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $581,567,000 after buying an additional 22,563 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $566,944,000 after acquiring an additional 19,826 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 753,005 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,765,000 after acquiring an additional 93,213 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 641,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,524,000 after purchasing an additional 8,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 553,698 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $95,419,000 after purchasing an additional 12,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $166.15 on Friday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.12 and a 1 year high of $219.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.33 and its 200 day moving average is $174.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 30.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.11.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.