American Century Companies Inc. Buys 175,059 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,803,045 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175,059 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $28,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRTN. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 154,916 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Marten Transport by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 24,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Marten Transport by 5.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,760 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $13.68 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.76 and its 200 day moving average is $15.97. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 52 week low of $13.45 and a 52 week high of $19.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24 and a beta of 0.84.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 2.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 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 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens raised their price objective on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

About Marten Transport

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.