Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 32,228 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,730,457 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,228 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.89% of Werner Enterprises worth $241,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WERN. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,717 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at about $445,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 55,022 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,976,000 after buying an additional 3,938 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,987,187 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $71,380,000 after buying an additional 234,811 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 29,514 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 9,465 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WERN shares. Citigroup upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Werner Enterprises from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.07.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WERN traded down $0.27 on Thursday, reaching $28.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,184,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 791,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.52. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.50 and a 12-month high of $42.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.85 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.55.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. Sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

Werner Enterprises Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics.