Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Takes $327,000 Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,438 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.2% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 207 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 41.5% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 225 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 220 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on JBHT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $201.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.00.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $233.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.01, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.27. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.79 and a fifty-two week high of $234.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $211.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.42.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 3,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total transaction of $613,584.86. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 90,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,241,526.46. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 1,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.29, for a total transaction of $300,592.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,109.50. This trade represents a 74.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,316 shares of company stock worth $6,727,749. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

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.