BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Stock Holdings in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) by 56.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,460 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 7,061 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in ArcBest were worth $510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in ArcBest by 146.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 298 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ArcBest during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ArcBest by 471.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,148 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in ArcBest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ARCB shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of ArcBest from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on ArcBest from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on ArcBest from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on ArcBest from $97.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of ArcBest from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $88.25.

Insider Activity

In other ArcBest news, CFO John Matthew Beasley bought 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.89 per share, with a total value of $52,423.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 8,142 shares in the company, valued at $609,754.38. This trade represents a 9.41% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

ArcBest Price Performance

ARCB traded down $0.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $63.87. 21,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 366,842. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.01. ArcBest Co. has a 12-month low of $55.19 and a 12-month high of $129.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.85.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $967.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $990.03 million. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.16% and a return on equity of 11.79%. The business's revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that ArcBest Co. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. ArcBest's payout ratio is 6.35%.

ArcBest Company Profile

ArcBest Corporation, an integrated logistics company, engages in the provision of ground, air, and ocean transportation solutions. It operates through two segments: Asset-Based and Asset-Light. The Asset-Based segment provides less-than-truckload (LTL) services, that transports general commodities, such as food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, non-bulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery, and miscellaneous manufactured products.