Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 5,450 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,154 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 5,450 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $3,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter worth about $1,578,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $566,944,000 after buying an additional 19,826 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 553,698 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $95,419,000 after acquiring an additional 12,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 145,850.0% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 2,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JBHT. Citigroup reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.80.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of JBHT opened at $148.55 on Friday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.34 and a twelve month high of $200.40. The stock has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $165.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.81.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

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.