Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $37.85 Million Stock Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its J.B. Hunt Transport Services stake by 3.4% in the first quarter, selling 6,311 shares and ending with 178,603 shares valued at about $37.85 million.
• J.B. Hunt reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $1.49 per share and revenue of $3.06 billion, while analysts currently see the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $253.65.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share and has seen notable insider selling, including transactions by EVP Darren P. Field and insider Bradley W. Hicks.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,603 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 6,311 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $37,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $592,015,000 after buying an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $765,862,000 after acquiring an additional 84,149 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $729,780,000 after acquiring an additional 565,605 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $216,317,000 after acquiring an additional 82,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,587,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total value 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 approximately $2,213,045.04. The trade was a 31.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 7,644 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.91, for a total value of $2,002,040.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,281,125.62. The trade was a 24.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,119 shares of company stock valued at $4,736,095. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $279.96 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $270.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.12 and a fifty-two week high of $294.98.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on JBHT shares. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $248.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $192.00 to $329.00 in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Argus set a $285.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.65.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

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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