Insider Selling: J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) SVP Sells $519,216.00 in Stock

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) SVP Jennifer Boattini sold 2,238 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.00, for a total value of $519,216.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,650 shares in the company, valued at $3,862,800. The trade was a 11.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT opened at $234.92 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.79 and a fifty-two week high of $236.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $213.43 and a 200 day moving average of $178.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.23.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBHT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup cut J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Susquehanna raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $240.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 207 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 225 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 220 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.