Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $24,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 78.0% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,323,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,877,000 after buying an additional 1,018,673 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Marten Transport by 13.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,881,000 after acquiring an additional 162,924 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Marten Transport by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 692,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,775,000 after acquiring an additional 41,505 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,334,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marten Transport by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 940,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,646,000 after acquiring an additional 38,990 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marten Transport news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 10,000 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.81 per share, with a total value of $158,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. This represents a 6.83 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MRTN opened at $15.60 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $15.33 and a fifty-two week high of $21.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14 and a beta of 0.82.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.02). Marten Transport had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $237.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Marten Transport 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.