Geneva Capital Management LLC Sells 25,700 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Geneva Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,290,246 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 25,700 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC owned about 4.05% of Marten Transport worth $60,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,839,975 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $122,524,000 after purchasing an additional 27,091 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $91,023,000 after acquiring an additional 132,407 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,506,000 after purchasing an additional 451,340 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,135,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,821,000 after purchasing an additional 97,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 11.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 91,508 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marten Transport news, President Douglas Paul Petit sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.22, for a total transaction of $81,990.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 31,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,752. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRTN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Vertical Research downgraded Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens reduced their price objective on Marten Transport from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on Marten Transport in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

Marten Transport Stock Up 2.7 %

Marten Transport stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $17.14. The stock had a trading volume of 522,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,412. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.45. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $15.33 and a 1 year high of $23.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51 and a beta of 0.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 5.31%. The firm had revenue of $249.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 33.80%.

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.