California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 22,713 Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 697,913 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,713 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.43% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $37,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 180.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 81,266 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 52,309 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 24.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,036,790 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $55,935,000 after purchasing an additional 204,228 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 61.6% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 20,109 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 7,666 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter worth $879,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter worth about $289,000. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $39.26. The stock had a trading volume of 5,165,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,260,764. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $36.69 and a one year high of $61.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.78 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50 day moving average is $49.45 and its 200 day moving average is $52.70.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $67.00 to $54.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col acquired 5,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services in the United States and Mexico. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal. The Truckload segment provides transportation services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.