Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,243 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 53.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,243 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 11,637 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447,993 shares in the last quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 149.5% during the second quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC now owns 670,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,337,000 after buying an additional 401,937 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter valued at about $91,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.04, for a total transaction of $380,080.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,499 shares in the company, valued at $5,796,029.96. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,944. This trade represents a 33.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,109 shares of company stock valued at $2,688,970. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on JBHT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $202.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.11. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $204.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 30.50%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.