Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 40,905 Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Verition Fund Management LLC lowered its position in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) by 53.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,161 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 40,905 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.15% of ArcBest worth $3,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in ArcBest by 54.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,660 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in ArcBest in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in ArcBest by 3.4% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,880 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 949.4% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,043 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 15,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 11.8% in the second quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company's stock.

ArcBest Stock Performance

ARCB traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $108.06. The stock had a trading volume of 336,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,764. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.49. ArcBest Co. has a 1 year low of $94.76 and a 1 year high of $153.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $107.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.19.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The transportation company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.20). ArcBest had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 4.54%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that ArcBest Co. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. ArcBest's payout ratio is presently 5.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig E. Philip sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.91, for a total value of $428,649.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,555,407.50. This represents a 14.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Newcity sold 10,443 shares of ArcBest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total transaction of $1,259,425.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $609,150.60. This trade represents a 67.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCB. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of ArcBest from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lowered their target price on ArcBest from $102.00 to $99.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on ArcBest from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of ArcBest from $130.00 to $117.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of ArcBest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.50.

ArcBest Profile

ArcBest Corporation, an integrated logistics company, engages in the provision of ground, air, and ocean transportation solutions. It operates through two segments: Asset-Based and Asset-Light. The Asset-Based segment provides less-than-truckload (LTL) services, that transports general commodities, such as food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, non-bulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery, and miscellaneous manufactured products.