Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 518,544 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,364 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.66% of Heartland Express worth $5,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $105,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $134,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 148,272 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,141,694.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,046,856 shares in the company, valued at $8,060,791.20. This trade represents a 16.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James G. Pratt bought 6,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $268,800. The trade was a 28.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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 shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Heartland Express Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $8.75. 740,280 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 435,713. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.59 and a 200 day moving average of $10.34. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.11 and a 1 year high of $13.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $687.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.65 and a beta of 1.04.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $241.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Heartland Express's revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

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.