Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,617 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 963 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRTN. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter valued at $12,907,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,038,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,462,000 after buying an additional 374,755 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Marten Transport by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 452,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,920,000 after buying an additional 93,417 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Marten Transport by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,613,000 after buying an additional 91,508 shares during the period. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter worth $1,141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRTN shares. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Marten Transport from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Vertical Research raised shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

MRTN opened at $16.82 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.04 and a 200-day moving average of $18.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69 and a beta of 0.79. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $15.33 and a 1-year high of $23.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.12. The company had revenue of $249.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.77 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company’s revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 33.80%.

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.