American Century Companies Inc. Has $28.15 Million Stock Holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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. owned approximately 2.21% of Marten Transport worth $28,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRTN. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 4th quarter worth about $100,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter valued at about $181,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 4th quarter worth about $172,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of MRTN traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.20. 771,367 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,088. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $13.10 and a 1-year high of $19.26. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.88.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport's payout ratio is 70.59%.

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.