Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,939 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 16,339 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $5,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.8% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 341 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,131,541.83. This trade represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total value of $26,494.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 700 shares in the company, valued at $127,904. This represents a 17.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,545 shares of company stock valued at $1,898,942 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT traded up $2.29 on Friday, hitting $161.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 657,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,857. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.77. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.12 and a 1 year high of $208.69.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight solutions.