American Century Companies Inc. Buys 162,924 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,402,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 162,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.72% of Marten Transport worth $25,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRTN. Nuance Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the first quarter valued at about $24,122,000. Empirical Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marten Transport during the fourth quarter worth about $9,997,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,506,000 after purchasing an additional 451,340 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Marten Transport during the first quarter worth about $2,988,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $91,023,000 after purchasing an additional 132,407 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ MRTN opened at $17.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.53 and a 200-day moving average of $17.68. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $15.33 and a 1-year high of $21.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $246.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.11 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 4.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MRTN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Vertical Research lowered shares of Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marten Transport has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Insider Activity at Marten Transport

In related news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $82,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,596.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marten Transport Company 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.