Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 83,686 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,024,117 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,686 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.26% of Marten Transport worth $15,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Marten Transport by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 685,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,130,000 after purchasing an additional 126,150 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Marten Transport by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 303,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,732,000 after acquiring an additional 185,700 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Marten Transport by 140.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 79,689 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Marten Transport by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $24,977,000 after acquiring an additional 14,951 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Marten Transport by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 138,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after buying an additional 75,721 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Shares of Marten Transport stock opened at $13.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 40.18 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.12. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a one year low of $13.52 and a one year high of $19.26.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 2.79%. On average, equities analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Profile

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.