Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Sold by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lowered its position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 27.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,169 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 6,178 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marten Transport during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,058,000. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 78.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,323,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,673 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,881,000 after acquiring an additional 162,924 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Marten Transport by 6.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 41,505 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,172,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,473,379.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of MRTN opened at $18.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.93 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.37. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 52-week low of $15.33 and a 52-week high of $21.38.

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

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in 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 Company 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.