Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Sold by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,814 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 74,354 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.34% of Heartland Express worth $3,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $39,338,000 after acquiring an additional 123,399 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $10,079,000 after acquiring an additional 45,732 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 730,368 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,195,000 after acquiring an additional 63,493 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 157,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,639,000 after buying an additional 285,838 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.81. 367,013 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 440,949. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $692.06 million, a PE ratio of -23.81 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $8.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.20. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.11 and a 1 year high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 167,644 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $1,500,413.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,869,775. This trade represents a 16.01% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 148,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $7.85 per share, for a total transaction of $1,163,935.20. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,461,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,475,663.80. This trade represents a 11.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Heartland Express Company 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.