Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Down 3.6% - Time to Sell?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) dropped 3.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $15.76 and last traded at $16.09. Approximately 104,238 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 405,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRTN has been the topic of several research reports. Vertical Research lowered shares of Marten Transport from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Marten Transport from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Marten Transport from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Marten Transport currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Marten Transport Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $17.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.48. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86 and a beta of 0.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 5.74%. The firm had revenue of $246.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.11 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Marten Transport's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In other Marten Transport news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $82,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $136,596.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 10.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,189 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the second quarter worth approximately $412,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 6.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,275 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 1,997 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the second quarter worth approximately $5,334,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 54.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 49,991 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 17,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company's stock.

About Marten Transport

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United State, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry freight; and regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.