Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,656 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,139 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $5,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,097 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 820 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on JBHT shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $196.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $150.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $140.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Nicholas Hobbs bought 1,529 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $130.75 per share, with a total value of $199,916.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,008,995.25. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $147.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.54. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.79 and a twelve month high of $200.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.33.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.94%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

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.