Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $253,000 in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,481 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth $1,578,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 28.2% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $566,944,000 after purchasing an additional 19,826 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 553,698 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $95,419,000 after purchasing an additional 12,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 190,689 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,092,976.08. The trade was a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,859 shares of company stock valued at $2,907,905 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

JBHT traded down $0.32 on Friday, reaching $169.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,112,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,691. The business's 50-day moving average price is $178.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.12 and a 12-month high of $219.51. The company has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.11.

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.