London Co. of Virginia Trims Stock Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

London Co. of Virginia decreased its position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 862,357 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 137,637 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned about 1.06% of Marten Transport worth $13,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forest Hill Capital LLC increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Forest Hill Capital LLC now owns 140,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,185,000 after buying an additional 75,716 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 55,160 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 14,182 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 256,559 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 61,938 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 495,769 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,739,000 after purchasing an additional 5,310 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the fourth quarter valued at about $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Marten Transport Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MRTN traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.76. The company had a trading volume of 376,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,536. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.06. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $12.52 and a fifty-two week high of $19.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.47 and a beta of 1.04.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05. The firm had revenue of $223.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.79 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. On average, analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Marten Transport's payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marten Transport news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.88 per share, for a total transaction of $257,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 176,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,272,598.72. The trade was a 12.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRTN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marten Transport from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

About Marten Transport

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United State, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry freight; and regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.