Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 36,984 Shares of Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR - Free Report) by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,091 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 36,984 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Landstar System worth $15,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,480,039 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,812,000 after buying an additional 25,387 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Landstar System by 17.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 72,248 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $13,926,000 after purchasing an additional 10,978 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 125.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,796 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 7,118 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Landstar System by 18.5% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,154 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,005,000 after buying an additional 4,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 362.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. 97.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James P. Todd sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.32, for a total transaction of $184,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,595,778.56. This trade represents a 6.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Landstar System Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ LSTR traded down $4.59 on Friday, reaching $182.82. The company had a trading volume of 171,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,973. Landstar System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $165.39 and a 52 week high of $201.40. The stock's 50 day moving average is $183.98 and its 200-day moving average is $183.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36 and a beta of 0.81.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($0.04). Landstar System had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Landstar System, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Landstar System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Landstar System's dividend payout ratio is 24.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LSTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Landstar System from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $174.25.

Landstar System Profile

Landstar System, Inc provides integrated transportation management solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Transportation Logistics and Insurance. The Transportation Logistics segment offers a range of transportation services, including truckload and less-than-truckload transportation, rail intermodal, air cargo, ocean cargo, expedited ground and air delivery of time-critical freight, heavy-haul/specialized, U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico cross-border, intra-Mexico, intra-Canada, project cargo, and customs brokerage, as well as offers transportation services to other transportation companies, such as third party logistics and less-than-truckload services.