Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $1.41 Million Investment in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at about $1,833,602,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $891,349,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $258,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,993 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at $200,587,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005,047 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JBHT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. Zacks Research upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Stephens upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $263.64 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.12 and a 12-month high of $299.76. The company has a market cap of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.19.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 18.75% and a net margin of 5.31%.The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 25.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total value of $426,015.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at $4,510,362.81. This trade represents a 8.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $225,252.70. This represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.50% 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.