Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 26.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 510,179 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 182,342 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.51% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $87,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JBHT. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,097 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 820 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,199 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $150.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $196.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $164.24.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT traded up $4.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $129.40. 607,687 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 948,841. The business has a 50 day moving average of $152.14 and a 200-day moving average of $168.65. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $200.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.94%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.