J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shares Sold by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 73.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,404 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 6,584 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JBHT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,946,628,000 after acquiring an additional 25,109 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,168,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $433,186,000 after purchasing an additional 62,313 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7,720.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 983,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $196,485,000 after purchasing an additional 971,124 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $185,299,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 887,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $177,336,000 after buying an additional 120,202 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Persio V. Lisboa purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $163.47 per share, with a total value of $98,082.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,511.18. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $163.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $161.40 and its 200-day moving average is $180.42. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.12 and a 12-month high of $219.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.14.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.90%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JBHT. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $210.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.88.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.