Quadrature Capital Ltd Makes New $1.75 Million Investment in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 8,793 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,751,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,946,628,000 after buying an additional 25,109 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,168,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $433,186,000 after buying an additional 62,313 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7,720.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 983,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $196,485,000 after buying an additional 971,124 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $185,299,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 887,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,336,000 after purchasing an additional 120,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Persio V. Lisboa bought 600 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $163.47 per share, for a total transaction of $98,082.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $587,511.18. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $171.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 711,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.12.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is presently 27.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on JBHT shares. Barclays lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Stephens lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $210.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $234.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.88.

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.