J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 48.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,900 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 6,823 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $3,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 167.0% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 235 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 49.3% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 22.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 656 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at $107,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.2% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 731 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $166.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $159.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $148.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $164.90.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 2.5%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock traded down $3.80 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,636,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 997,412. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $200.40. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $144.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.22. The stock has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.00%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs bought 1,529 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $130.75 per share, for a total transaction of $199,916.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 91,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,008,995.25. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.