Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 56,215 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $878,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Marten Transport at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 22.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 685,308 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $12,130,000 after buying an additional 126,150 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 158.0% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 303,200 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,732,000 after purchasing an additional 185,700 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 140.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 79,689 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 214,022 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 17,179 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Marten Transport

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 20,000 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.88 per share, for a total transaction of $257,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 176,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,272,598.72. This trade represents a 12.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRTN traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $13.12. The stock had a trading volume of 707,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,239. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.59 and a beta of 1.04. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $12.52 and a 1 year high of $19.26. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $13.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.13.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. The firm had revenue of $223.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.79 million. Equities research analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Marten Transport's dividend payout ratio is 88.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens increased their price objective on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a 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.