Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases Shares of 6,400 J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden disclosed a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, buying 6,400 shares worth about $1.36 million in the first quarter.
• Institutional interest in JBHT remains strong, with large investors like AQR Capital Management, Norges Bank, and Bessemer Group also making major additions; institutions now own 74.95% of the company.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $240.74, even as some firms raised targets and others kept cautious ratings.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,400 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,356,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $258,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447,993 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,587,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $195,580,000 after buying an additional 1,005,047 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 338.0% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 823,089 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $110,434,000 after acquiring an additional 635,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 272.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 747,377 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $145,245,000 after acquiring an additional 546,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JBHT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $240.74.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $277.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.99, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $267.92 and a 200-day moving average of $233.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.12 and a 52 week high of $294.98.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the 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 $225,252.70. This represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total transaction of $1,017,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,696 shares in the company, valued at $2,213,045.04. This represents a 31.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,119 shares of company stock worth $4,736,095. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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