J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 11.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 9,628 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.08% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $10,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after purchasing an additional 272,594 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $296,383,000 after buying an additional 11,637 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $258,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,993 shares in the last quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 149.5% in the second quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC now owns 670,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,337,000 after acquiring an additional 401,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at $91,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $201.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.05.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 4,028 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.13, for a total transaction of $906,823.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,842,826.35. This represents a 11.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total value of $579,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,353,957.20. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 32,316 shares of company stock worth $6,727,749 in the last three months. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $223.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.87. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $234.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $207.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.32%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.