Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 31,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRTN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,831,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $107,585,000 after purchasing an additional 14,660 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,231,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,199,000 after purchasing an additional 15,388 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in Marten Transport by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,627,111 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,500,000 after buying an additional 303,132 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,339,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,412,000 after buying an additional 14,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Marten Transport by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,977,000 after buying an additional 14,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jerry M. Bauer bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,379.64. This represents a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $15.50 on Tuesday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $15.33 and a 1 year high of $21.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.82.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.02). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.36%. The business had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.00 million. Analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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.