ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC Has $32.27 Million Stock Holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,876,430 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 43,562 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC owned about 3.66% of Heartland Express worth $32,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HTLD. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth $134,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HTLD. Barclays reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Heartland Express Trading Up 8.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $8.20. The stock had a trading volume of 767,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,041. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $13.67. The firm's fifty day moving average is $8.81 and its 200 day moving average is $10.57. The stock has a market cap of $643.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.16 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The business had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Heartland Express's payout ratio is presently -22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 148,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.85 per share, with a total value of $1,163,935.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,461,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,475,663.80. This trade represents a 11.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 40.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Heartland Express Profile

Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services.